Solar Eclipse
by poorasdirt
Summary: You left me alone, you wanted me to move on, and you erased yourself from my life. Well now I'm picking up the peices and you don't matter anymore. I'm angry and you are nothing. Full summary inside
1. Chapter 1

**Summary**: Set during the time Edward leaves Bella during New Moon, thanks to a few strange dreams and a new friend Bella's life takes an unexpected turn. Fueled by anger she decides to take a path less traveled, only to find danger is slowly creeping up on the horizon. However, with her new best friend at her side and a determination she didn't know she had, she will rise to the occasion. Now if only she knew how to control her anger and keep her sudden changes out of the public eye, she'd be set.

**poorasdirt**: Hey ppl! This is my first story, oddly enough I can't say I'm a big fan of Twilight. I never really got into the books and have only watched New Moon the Movie straight through so there is going to be a lot of holes in this I'm sure. However, my sister is a big fan and I originally wrote this as something for her. Truthfully I can't stand Bella, I think she's a rather weak character and is way to love sick for my tastes, so in a way this is me making a Bella I personally can stand. Feel free to bash me all you want since my little sis likes this story and it's really for her, I just feel like sharing it. I'm very good at taking insults as compliments anyway so NAH :P

**Disclaimer**: What's there to say, I don't own Twilight the series obviously (some chick I can never remember does), I also don't own the song It Doesn't Matter Anymore, someone much better at lyrical poetry owns that and I'm grateful they made it. Uh, I suppose the onlything I do own is all the OCs mentioned in this story and perhaps the plot line. Otherwise I give credit to all the other brilliant people out there that have let me use their works in a non-profit source of creative writing.

**ENJOY!!**

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Isabella Marie Swan lay on her bed after another day of school and work. Charlie, her father, was at La Push visiting his friend Billy. This left her home alone in the house. She did all her homework already and was trying to figure out what to do to distract her from her thoughts. If she was distracted she wouldn't think of why she was so miserable. The truth of the matter was she had been numb since her eighteenth birthday that September. It was that day on her birthday that her reason for living left and her world came crashing down. The Cullen family had left Forks Washington, and she had no clue as to where they had gone. This was especially disheartening because her love Edward happened to be part of that family. But he didn't just leave like a normal boyfriend, since he was in fact a vampire, when he left he left no trace of him behind. She didn't understand, he was her true love and he left her to this pain and suffering.

Sitting up she pulled the forgotten scrapbook her mother had sent her and began to flip through the book. She saw her scrawl handwriting where her pictures of him had been and something inside her shifted but she couldn't tell exactly what it was. Sighing once more she went down stairs and started to clean. She had nothing better to do and it was all she could think of to keep her mind off of the potential call he might give her. A letter, a call, something to tell her that he still loved her like she loved him; she needed him more than she needed anything in her life before. However, she wasn't going to leave Forks and all the memories she had of the Cullen coven behind, since she still had her father in the town. She was numb all over but she was determined to try to be normal, at least seem it when she was breaking on the inside. She had been numb since her eighteenth birthday and even Christmas hadn't helped, now with New Years coming up just at the end of the week, she didn't know what she'd do. So as she finished cleaning the house she walked up to her room to finally go to sleep.

She found herself standing on a dirt path in the woods. Looking around she could see she was in a clearing surrounded by cliffs and off to her left was the ocean. The path went off into the woods, she couldn't get to the shore from her current location, and she had the need to walk somewhere. Deciding to simply follow the path, she bit back the memory of Edward leading her to the path by her house. So lifting up her chin she started on her way.

There you go and baby, here I am

Well, you left me here to sit and cry

Golly gee, what have you done to me?

But I guess it doesn't matter anymore

She paused at the voice drifting on the wind. It was a female singing but it was faint so she continued on the path hoping to find the singer. As she walked she had noticed that the singing got clearer and louder.

Do you remember baby, last September

How you held me tight, each and every night

Oh, baby, how you drove me crazy

Well, I guess it doesn't matter anymore

She smiled sadly at the words on the wind. She could relate to them so well. She knew she honestly wouldn't be in this state if she wasn't such a klutz. If she hadn't gotten hurt on her birthday, then the Cullens wouldn't have left her.

There, ain't no use in me a-cryin'

'Cause I've done of everything and I'm sick of tryin'

I've thrown away my nights

Wasted all my days over you

She nodded to the words, knowing that was exactly what she was doing but she didn't know what else to do. The day Edward left her whole world came crashing down. She was happy then but now she just felt numb and hollow on the inside. She didn't even know if she wanted to move on or if she should wait longer for Edward.

Now you go your way, baby and I'll go mine

Now and forever till the end of time

And I'll find someone new and baby, we'll say we're through

And you won't matter anymore

She frowned, thinking over the words. In a way, that was exactly what Edward had told her, that she'd never see him ever again. She wondered if he would find someone new. He said that his kind was easily distracted and time can heal all wounds for humans. She heard that before but she wasn't truly convinced since she seen some people wallow for a very long time over something. She was stuck as well, she wouldn't say she was moping but to someone else it might seem that way.

There ain't no use in me a-cryin'

'Cause I've done of everything and now I'm sick of tryin'

I've thrown away my nights

Wasted all my days over you

Now you go your way, baby and I'll go mine

Now and forever till the end of time

And I'll find someone new and baby, we'll say we're through

And you won't matter anymore

And you won't matter anymore

And you won't matter anymore

And you won't matter anymore

That was right; she didn't matter anymore, at least not to Edward Cullen. She couldn't believe he actually did that to her. She had a horrible birthday, not that that was anything different, but he could have been a bit more sympathetic. Had she ever mattered to him? Was she just a fascination he had, just the scent he longed for and the mystery of not being able to read her thoughts? She wanted to be with him forever but was she some novelty that he so easily placed back on the shelf when he was through with her?

Stopping abruptly, as the song started again on the wind, she looked at where she was going for the first time. By now she was well down the path and she could no longer see where she started through the thick underbrush of the forest. Instead of looking back she turned to look at what was ahead of her. She took more assured steps towards the end of the path than she had been taking. For some reason as the song played idly in the background on the wind she felt more and more confident with herself. After what seemed like hours she hit a snag in her walk through the forest.

She knew she was dreaming, but the snag just solidified she was unconscious, since she ended up at a crossroad. The path she was on split into three different paths now. One path veered off towards the right and seemed to swing around heading back to the cliff, the sky above the path was cast in the light of a new moon. The second path led straight ahead, continuing through the forest and seemed to be well groomed and lit with the light of twilight. The third and final path led to the left, this path was less well marked than the other two and ventured through a highly over grown field with grass almost as tall as her shoulders. She couldn't see very well but the field seemed to go back into another part of the forest that seemed different than the forest she was currently in. That forest was a little less friendly, a little less familiar, but appealing all on its own. However the last path and the forest it led to was happily bathed in the rays of the sun.

Stumped she stood there looking between her three choices. She couldn't tell which path she wanted to take, she had to think, had to sit back and watch before making her choice. She had all the time in the world at the moment, she could ponder this a bit before continuing on, rather than making a rash decision right off the bat. So standing there she took in the three paths in great detail.

The first path towards the cliff and the ocean was well trimmed. It was even paved with marble stones; in fact the whole forest seemed to be carved of beautiful white marble. However she noticed there wasn't any life what so ever down the path. No matter how long she stood and watched she couldn't see if there was anything living. She even could see from her vantage point where the path led to the dead end of the cliff. She also noted while the trees were made of marble there were no bushes, there was no grass, and the dirt seemed to be made out of glistening diamond dust that barely seemed to glow in the light of just the stars.

Turning to the second path she looked down it carefully. She could see the trees on this path were healthy and strong, there were bushes along the path that was well taken care of like a hiking trail in the woods. There were a few rocks along the path and she could see where there were a few bumps and dips in the dirt. It wasn't a path she could take without tripping a bit every now and then, from her well known klutziness. However, she couldn't really see any animals, just a few tracks that look like dog tracks but they were too big for it to be a dog. She figured that they were wolf tracks then, zigzagging about the trail but she didn't see a wolf in sight. Otherwise it was a really nice path to take, a bit perilous but the woods seemed very familiar, and she would almost welcome the company of the wolf that seemed to dwell there. At least to her there was life under the twilight sky and she could live with that even if she had to walk in the semidarkness for a while.

The third path however was neither familiar nor really appealing to her at the moment. From what she could see at the beginning of the path it was gravel and even, but she couldn't tell much after that since it went through a field. The field was covered with tall thick grass that would make following the path difficult and hid many pitfalls along the way, she was sure. However, it had its own appeal as well, for beyond the path was a forest that was teeming with life. She could see squirrels, birds, and other animals darting through the branches. Even the field held life, with an occasional rabbit appearing from the grass for a few seconds before darting back in when it spotted her. It was also cast under the clear summer sky that held a few white puffy clouds that were changing shape every now and then, appearing as different things she could recognize. In a way the last path reminded her of the saying "You should always take the road less traveled" but she still felt uncertain about this path as her choice.

Looking at her choices over once more and trying to decide which one she should take, she was suddenly startled by a sharp beeping over the music on the wind.

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And cut! Yes I left y'all hanging but never fear there will be another chapter, just as soon as I finish editing it a little. I already have a few chapters writen since like I said it was for my sis who probably is way ahead of everyone in this story. I'm also aware it probably starts out a bit confusing but hopefully you'll understand in a few chapters.

REVIEW!! It will tell me more about your thoughts on this thing at the very least.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary**: Is in the first chapter.

**poorasdirt**: Yo, I managed to get this chapter done fairly quickly since there weren't many things wrong with it. So I up loaded it as soon as I could. Anyway, not sure when I'll get around to chapter three since it needs a bit more editing than I first thought and I have to wash my carpet and kitchen floor. Perhaps in a day or two but no promises, besides I probably should let the readers time to review my story as well. Anyway, chow.

**Disclaimer**: I own the OCs and that's about it. If you count the plot as something I own that as well, otherwise nothing is mine and no money is being earned from it. I'm still as poor as dirt.

**ENJOY!!**

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She sat up quickly having suddenly found herself lying down before realizing she was sitting in her bed. The path and walk through the woods had been merely a dream. Looking at the clock that said it was time to get ready for school, she sighed and kicked off her duvet. Grabbing her clothes for the day she went quickly to the bathroom to take a quick shower, she only tripped once on her way. After she was ready she quickly went down to the kitchen to get breakfast ready for Charlie and her. She couldn't get the dream out of her head, a part of her thought that perhaps she just needed a change. Looking down at the green t-shirt and blue jeans she wore she sighed. Catching her image in a nearby reflective surface she noticed the bleak faced young woman and had to cringe. That morning was the first time in a long time she actually looked at herself in the mirror and she knew that all her effort in trying to remain like herself was simply a waste.

"A change, that's what I need. I don't want to go to Renee but still, I need to do something with myself." She muttered to herself for the first time in a long time thinking of her wellbeing. Humming the tune of the song from her dream under her breath she finished up breakfast.

"I didn't know you know any Buddy Holly songs." Charlie said coming in and sitting down.

"Buddy Holly?" She asked with a frown.

"Yea, that tune you're humming is from one of his songs. I used to be a big fan of him." Charlie said mildly pleased to see for once she wasn't acting like a preprogrammed robot.

"What's the song's name?" She asked curiously.

"It Doesn't Matter Anymore." Charlie answered before glancing at the clock. "You might want to get going if you don't want to be late."

"Oh! Okay and I'm thinking of going to Port Angeles after school since I don't have work today." She said making him blink before he smiled slightly.

"Then here, spend it on yourself." Charlie said giving her some money.

"Really, I don't-" She was about to protest.

"Don't worry about it Bella, this is the first time in a while since I've seen you doing something since the Cullens left. I think you need it." Charlie said before shooing her out of the house.

Looking at the money in her hand she shook her head and pocketed it. She had wanted to go to Port Angelus on a whim but now it really sounded like a good idea to her. She also thought about calling up her old friend Jacob Black to see if they couldn't hang out some time. Edward said she should move on and forget about him, she wasn't sure if she could do that but she knew she was getting tired of trying to act like she was normal. She no longer seemed to have the energy to muster the act, she wasn't going to let herself fall in grades or work but she needed to start live for herself. So humming that song once more, she went to school determined to choose a path, one that was perhaps from her dream and stick to it. Now if only she knew what her dream really as about.

She more or less was a zombie through school thinking over her dream. She had learned from her dream on her birthday to try to pay a bit more attention to what she dreamed. That was partially because she might have a dream of Edward that didn't involve him leaving her. It also was because she knew her dream more or less was a warning that she didn't heed at the time. Or at least that's what she thought anyway, it was hard since she wasn't sure if she had a prophetic dream or not. She almost wished that Alice was there to help her understand what she was thinking. However it wasn't long before she was on the road to Port Angeles and hopefully something that would help her.

When she got there she went to the mall it had. She wasn't much of a shopper and she knew it helped her mom Renee, but she wasn't sure what she was doing there. Sitting out in the parking lot she pulled out the money she had on her, both what she got out of the bank and what Charlie gave her. She was surprised to see she had nearly a thousand dollars in her hand. Shaking her head she pocketed the money and walked into the building and looked around. It was pretty busy and she could see several groups of people walking around from store to store. More than once she saw groups of preppy high school girls walk by but she just shook her head. Those groups of girls reminded her way to much of Rosalie.

As she looked around trying to find something to catch her eye she paused in awe. She didn't go to the mall often and if she did she was usually being dragged around by Alice and Rosalie, so she was surprised she never saw this store before. Nestled between two stores with decisively pink displays, she vaguely registered the stores as Claire's and Limited, she found a store that seemed predominately black in color with splashes of crimson, white, and other dark or morbid colors about the store. Looking up at the industrial like sign with sharp jagged letters proudly displaying it to be Hot Topic she blinked. Deciding her mood was dark enough and the fact that the other stores lacked any appeal, she walked in. Looking around she was surprised by all the different merchandise in the store, though the main colors seemed to be black and red there were other colors as well.

"Need some help?" A cheery voice asked behind her and she jumped looking away from the green t-shirt she was looking at. She turned around and blinked at the girl standing behind her. The other girl stood about the same height as Bella with porcelain skin, soft blonde hair that was pulled back into a French braid that ended at her ankles, and shocking husky blue eyes that looked almost completely silver. The girl had a nice complexion and though not vampire beautiful she was indeed good looking. She was also wearing a black button up blouse and some black slacks with a name tag pinned to her shirt happily displaying her as Madison, an employee of Hot Topic. Bella was amused to note Madison wore a pair of silver and white trainers that contrasted with her over all outfit.

"Um, I don't know." Bella said with a shrug still a bit overwhelmed.

"Well you're looking a bit lost, so I'll go out on a limb and say you need some guidance." Madison said with a lopsided grin that was mischievous and excited at the same time. The overall excitement that seemed to encompass the girl made Bella smile slightly as well. "I'm Madison by the way; you probably already know that though. Call me Mad most people do." Madison said her voice filled with amusement at the last statement like it was some inside joke.

"Call me Bella and I guess I'll say I'm lost. I've never been in here before." Bella said getting a nod from Madison.

"I sort of guessed since most of the regulars have a dress code." Madison said pointing to another girl in the store that was decked out in black and dark purple, looking every bit the morbid poster child for the store. That's when Bella noticed that Madison had bangs framing her face, long strands of hair that fell around her face and even more sweeping to the left side giving it an almost Emo like look. It also didn't help that Madison had at least four piercings in each of her ears, a ring on her right eyebrow, and seemed to like silver chained jewelry since she seemed to be covered in it from neck to wrist. "So any reason you came in here or where you just curious?" Madison asked rocking on her heels happily.

"Well normally I'm shopping with my best friend and her sister and they don't really like stores like this." Bella said with a slight frown. "But she and her family moved away so I figured why not, I need a change of pace anyway."

"In that case, let Mad be your guide into the dark realm of Goth, Punk, and Emo." Madison said motioning with her hands to the whole of the store. "Since you strike me as the back woods or flower child type girl we'll go slow and try not to get too far out of your comfort zone. You can get some good stuff in here that isn't extreme if you know where to look. With a pair of dark wash jeans and a dark colored jacket you'd fit right in without looking like some two bit whore." Madison said with a grin.

"Okay, where should we start? I got a budget of six hundred dollars by the way." Bella said getting a nod from Madison. The next two or so hours was filled with fun and laughter as Bella got a guided tour of the merchandise, Madison's coworker Phil took care of the other customers. Really Bella hadn't had this much fun or felt this comfortable around someone since she left Arizona. Madison was excitable but nonchalant; she didn't ask questions that were too personal but the two ended up starting to form a friendship as they shopped.

"Have you ever thought of a leather jacket?" Madison asked as she started to ring up all the things that Bella was buying. The two managed to hit just below the six hundred dollar budget by fifty dollars and still it translated into almost nine outfits that could be mixed and matched to create different looks.

"No, why do you ask?" Bella asked wondering how a leather jacket would help.

"I'd think you'd look good in one and not those crap jackets that most people were for fun, like a real bicker chick jacket. You got the look anyway, what do you think Phil?" Madison asked looking at her coworker who rolled his eyes at her. He was a lanky young man with cropped black hair and brown eyes.

"Yea, she'd look good in one." He conceded after looking over Bella.

"Where would I get one that fits me?" Bella asked with a frown. "And how much would it cost?"

"For a good one? A few hundred, but I can give you the address to my Uncle Tom's place. He's got some good things there; he sells old bikes and stuff too." Phil said with a shrug.

"Maybe you should learn how to ride, I know you're a little klutzy but you got great balance when you're not walking." Madison said with a smile having had to catch Bella only twice when she got tangled in the narrow rows of the store.

"I think I'll go look at the store but I'm not sure about the bike though." Bella said being just a bit nervous.

"Bella, honey, you're not going to get anywhere if you just pussy foot your way through life. Live a little at least, go sky diving or rock climbing or something." Madison said with shrug having already gotten Bella's phone number since Bella actually really liked the girl. "And as for your thing about your ex-boyfriend ask yourself this: If there were no other people in the world aside from myself, him, and his dream girl, who would he pick between the two?"

"That doesn't make sense." Phil said looking confused.

"It does if she knows the guy enough, cause mama always told me in order to love someone, truly love someone; you have to know them like you know yourself. If she has doubt that the guy would choose his dream girl over her than she didn't know him as well as she thought she did. No relationship, no matter how magnificent, can last through suspicion. It doesn't work that way." Madison said to Phil in a lecturing tone. Phil seemed to think about it before rolling his eyes.

"You're mad, Mad." Phil said getting a mysterious grin from Madison as he wrote down the directions and address to his uncle's place for Bella. Bella smiled at the two of them and promised to call them if she had the time before leaving.

"And don't be a stranger, we work in the retail business, we like your money." Madison called after her making her smile as she carried her bags towards the door. Bella looked over at Madison once more before she left though because the girl began to sing a familiar tune. "_There ain't no use in me a-cryin', 'Cause I've done of everything and I'm sick of tryin', I've thrown away all my nights, Wasted all my days over you._" Drifted after Bella as she walked out of the store shaking her head, she was trying to convince herself that it was just a coincidence so she headed to her truck intent on getting something to eat before going to Phil's uncle's place.

After getting something to eat Bella followed the directions to a quaint used parts store. She walked in looking at the directions still. The place said Tom Ranger's Parts and Merchandise just like Phil put down but she was still a bit uncertain. The place was pretty descent in appearance and she could see different old used bikes. There were also racks of leather jackets and other paraphernalia. The smell of leather was all over the room and Bella found herself oddly comforted by it.

"Can I help you miss?" A gruff voice asked and she turned to find a short man with wide shoulders and muscles. He looked like a biker if she ever saw one with a long white mustache and a bandana around his head. He even dressed in a white shirt and some jeans. Aside from the laugh lines round his eyes and the warm smile on his face she'd be intimidated by him even if he was probably just as tall as she was.

"Uh, yea, I ran into a guy named Phil Ranger who said I'd look good in a leather jacket, and this was the place to go." She said with a slight snort to the words. The man blinked before throwing his head back and roaring with laughter.

"Ran into my nephew then, he's always trying to help business around here. But I think you're right, you look like a girl that could handle a bike. Have you ever tried to ride one before?" The man, who she assumed was Tom, asked.

"No, I haven't thought of doing that but it sounds fun." Bella conceded oddly giddy about the idea of riding a motorcycle. It really did sound like fun to her and she wondered if she could in fact ride a bike. The next three hours was both entertaining and informative for Bella as Tom went around showing her everything. She actually liked Tom, a former Hells Angel; the man was a bit rough around the edges but seemed to enjoy life. He also was very enthusiastic about bikes. In the end Bella managed to cut a deal with him, for the last three hundred dollars she had with her she got a very nice leather jacket, an old bike that needed more than a few hours of repairs, and a few how to books on how to fix the bike up.

"Now, you have to get a license to ride so as soon as you fix this old thing up see to it you get some lessons. I don't want you ending up hurt because you didn't go about this as safely as possible." Tom said helping her tie down the bike to the bed of her truck.

"Of course, I will. My dad's a cop so he probably can help me with that." She said getting a nod from Tom.

"He better or I'll be knocking on your hospital door with a good lecture ready." Tom said before Bella said her goodbyes and left. She couldn't wait to get home and get started on her new project.

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YAY!! Bella now owns a motorcycle! She's starting to become a Rebel! In your face Edward! If you're wondering I can't recall but there isn't much Jacob in this and there is definitely no Cullens except for the occasional mention. I also won't be putting a pairing in this. I plan on writing a sequel and it may have a pairing but I don't think so yet. Also it has occured to me that there will be X-Men mentions in this, however it's so far very much based in Twilight so I doubt it's a crossover yet. I see potential in the future but the future is far off.

Anyway REVIEW!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary**: In the first chapter.

**poorasdirt**: I would like to thank the two people that reviewed this story so far, **Jits** and **LadyDelerosa**. So thank you! Not much to say this time around but I will be working on the next chapter soon. There are probably just as many editing problems in it as this chapter so it might take a day or two as well.

**Disclaimer**: I of course only own the OCs and the plot line obviously. Everything else belongs to more creative and richer people than me.

**ENJOY!!**

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Once she got home she brought her bags up to her room before quickly going down to start dinner since Charlie hadn't got home yet and the small meal she had in Port Angeles wasn't much. So as she cooked she started to hum the song from her dream again, wondering how Madison knew it. Shaking her head she thought back to the question Madison had asked her. If Edward, her and Edward's dream girl were the only ones in the world would Edward pick her? Bella desperately wanted to say yes but then again Edward had left her. She knew he left to protect her from himself but when it came down to it that was selfish. She knew that, how was protecting her from himself and potentially leaving her alone and vulnerable to other vampires helping? She asked herself if Edward cared but the image of him standing there telling her his kind get easily distracted kept coming back to her. She had been avoiding this for months now but she always knew she had to address this sooner or later.

"Bella?" Charlie asked coming in and she looked up having just finished making dinner.

"I'm in the kitchen." She called back plating the spaghetti that she was going to eat. Charlie walked in with a curious look on his face.

"Do I want to know why you have an old motorcycle tied to your truck?" He asked curiously getting a grin from Bella.

"I want to fix it up, the guy I got it from said it needs a lot of work but it was cheap so I took it. I'm thinking of taking a leaf out of Renee's book and starting a project to help me somehow." She said with a shrug getting a nod from Charlie.

"In that case I probably can help you out if you need anything." Charlie said all for helping her with her project since she seemed so enthused about it. After the past few months of her just sleep walking through life he felt this was going to help her take the steps necessary to get over Edward and the heart break he caused her.

"You know something about motorcycles?" She asked curiously getting a sort of half chuckle from her father.

"You could say that, come here." Charlie said motioning for her to follow him. Curious she put her plate down on the table to go see what he wanted to show her. They went out to the storage shed that was really supposed to be the garage but had too much stuff to fit a car in. They picked their way through a wall of boxes for a few seconds before they ended up near the middle of all the mess. Bella watched curiously as Charlie went to something under a tarp and uncovered it. She gasped in awe at the beautiful well cared for red and silver Harley under the tarp. "Like it? This baby is what first attracted your mother to me back in High School. It used to give my mother a heart attack every time I went out on it, or at least that's what she said. But it wasn't always like this; I had to fix it up after I got it from the old junk yard near the reservation."

"Wow, why don't you ride it anymore?" Bella asked looking over the bike in awe. It really was an amazing thing to behold, especially after she saw all the other bikes at Tom's place.

"Never really thought about it after your mother left, it probably needs a good tune up now though since it's been collecting dust in here for a few years." Charlie said smiling at the amazement written all over Bella's face. He figured that maybe, just maybe, he'd get her out of her depression yet. "Tell you what; if you help me clear out this place a bit you can use it to fix up your bike. Once you're finished we can go for a ride together, how does that sound?"

"You mean it?" Bella asked wanting to see her father's bike roar to life.

"Why not? But you'll have to go to the safety classes before that happen, understood?" Charlie said sternly getting a nod from Bella.

"Can we clean this place out tomorrow after I finish school?" Bella asked getting a chuckle from Charlie who nodded. During dinner and for some time after Bella got Charlie to tell her all about the bike in the garage and how he fixed it up. As much as she didn't want to she eventually went up to her room to finish her homework and go to bed. The next morning she gathered up her clothes for the day, deciding to wear a black shirt with an ice blue fairy on it that she got from Hot Topic the day before, some nice dark washed jeans, and her leather jacket. She frowned at her trainers wondering if she could get better shoes since her current ones didn't really go with the outfit. Especially after she added the leather cuffs and the few necklaces that Madison insisted she had. Charlie only raised an eyebrow at her outfit before rolling his eyes and getting to his breakfast as she headed out for school.

She waited patiently as school seemed to once again slow the day down. She was slightly glad she only saw a few reminders of Edward and his family during school before she managed to escape the monotony that was the state's education system. She was practically willing her beat up old truck to go faster as she went home. Going into the house she saw the note from Charlie saying to start moving the boxes up to the old guest room from the garage while he was still at work. Going up to her room she quickly did her homework, but made sure to do it correctly, before starting to move the boxes.

As she worked she thought about how she was greeted at the school that day. Not even Jessica had really acknowledged her and she was beginning to realize that in her depress state she had lost touch with the people she once hung out with at school. That depressed her a bit but she was determined that her project would help her get things back together since unlike Renee she refused to move on to another thing before this one was finished. She also made a mental note to start to talk to Angela again. Bella really liked the other girl, as calm and understanding but quite as she was.

"Oh!" Bella exclaimed when she tripped, dropping an old box in the process. Cringing as the box's old cardboard sides gave way she watched as old pictures, books, and some other papers came out from inside of it. It really was heavy but she had been managing it on the way to the stairs, now it was all scattered in the living room.

Surprised she began to pick up the papers seeing as some of them seemed very old. Pushing her hair behind her ears she was surprised at some of the photos she saw as she picked up. Some were old black and white photos with a man that looked similar to a stockier Charlie with dark hair and dark eyes and in what looked to be World War Two army greens. Looking at the photo a bit more she realized there was a name on the man's jacket: Howlett. Surprised she looked at some of the other pictures, even more surprised when she saw old pictures of a young woman that looked to be just as old as the man if only a few years younger in World War Two era clothes. Flipping the picture around, she noted in faded pen ink that the person in the picture was Isabella Jean Swan, her grandmother on her dad's side. Blinking in surprise she shook her head and gathered up the box again, putting it in her room since she wanted to go through it later.

The next few hours were rather uneventful until Charlie came home. "BELLA! I brought pizza!" Charlie called as he set the pizza down on the table.

"Ok dad!" Bella called back situating another box into the guest room. Looking around at the slowly growing mountains she wondered exactly what was in all of them. Deciding she could ask if she could go through them later she went down for a much needed break.

"So have you been moving those boxes all day?" Charlie asked seeing Bella walking down the stairs. Bella had somehow gotten covered in a fine layer of dust as she tackled cleaning out the garage.

"No, I finished my homework when I got home than I started to move the boxes. I'm not going to be able to start right away tomorrow since I have work." Bella said getting a nod from Charlie.

"Well at least you got a head start and I can help you now." Charlie said before he flipped open the pizza box. "But first, how about we have some dinner?"

"Dinner sounds great." Bella said sitting down with a paper plate and some slices of pizza. "Hey dad, why did you tell me when I was younger that I couldn't have a motorcycle but now you suddenly want me to?" She asked curiously since the question was bothering her.

"Because when you asked you were ten years old and I didn't think you were responsible enough to handle a motorcycle. Now I think you're responsible enough and know enough not to do something stupid. I do expect you to take those safety courses though." Charlie said getting a nod from Bella.

"Did you have to take safety courses?" Bella asked curiously.

"Well I wouldn't call them safety courses but I took some classes like them. My mom insisted that I did because she didn't want me to injure myself too badly." Charlie said and Bella looked up.

"What about your dad?" Bella asked realizing she didn't know much about that side of her family.

"My dad wasn't around by then; he went to Vietnam and never came back. When I asked my mom about it she said he was a military man, they met after World War Two where she was a nurse stationed in the pacific and he had been stationed in Japan near the end of the war. They met at one of the military parties held in California. Mom got out of the military and dad staid in but they had a close relationship. I was just little when my dad was asked to go to Nam so my mom moved up here to live with her family until he got back, only he never showed up. The military said that he was MIA and they searched extensively but nothing was found. My mom was devastated since the two had planned on getting married shortly after he got back from the war but it never happened. In the end mom raised me by herself and with some help of my grandparents before they died." Charlie said with a shrug.

"Wow, I didn't know that. So did your mom ever get married?" Bella asked curiously.

"Nope, said I was enough trouble for her as it was. She didn't need another man to complicate things anymore than they were. She did have a few boyfriends here and there but none of them really staid. She really did like Renee though, practically saw here as a daughter even before we got married." Charlie said with a smile.

"Why didn't I ever meet my grandmother on your side?" Bella asked curiously.

"Oh you did, you were just too young to remember. She died when you were about four. As tough of a woman as she was, she lost the fight against cancer, but I'm sure she would have loved to see how you've grown up." Charlie said with a grin but Bella could see some sadness there as well.

"I think I would have loved to see her as well. She sounds like an interesting woman." Bella said with a smile. "While we're on the subject, I always wondered why you and mom broke up. Not that I really minded but mom never told me."

"Well when you were younger I was in the service as well, the army actually. When Desert Storm rolled in I was sent overseas for a while and Renee just couldn't handle it. We grew apart during that time as well and decided that it was best for all involved if we called it off. There were no hard feelings between us and since I was still in the military at the time you went with your mother but I had visitation rights. Once I got out of the military I moved back up here and well you've came to visit me in the summer ever since." Charlie said with a shrug getting a nod from Bella who grinned.

"Well that's great, now come on! I've almost got the garage all cleared out." Bella said getting up after finishing a few slices of pizza. She was determined to get the garaged cleared out and to start working on her bike.

That night after she got a call from Madison who asked invited her to the movies after they both got off work and she agreed. She went to bed only when she opened her eyes she found herself on the path in the woods. Her previous night's dream was about her nightmare of searching for something but this dream was oddly much more comforting. She was still in a forest but she was actually standing on a path and she could see where she was going. Walking down the path she hummed along with the wind, the same Buddy Holly song being sung to her as she walked. She even smiled as she looked at the split in the path when it came up. It was difficult to choose which path she wanted to take so she sat down and looked at the three paths, weighing each one for their worth. "If the three of us were the only ones in the world would he choose his dream girl over me?" She asked the wind still curious about the question. Sighing she looked at the paths when the wind didn't respond. "Where should I go and what will I do when I get there?" She asked herself trying to decide. However once again before she could actually form an opinion she was awoken by her alarm clock and a new day.

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And cut! Things are developing nicely I think. Anyway I just through some of Bella's family history in here because it fits for much later developments in the story. You'll probably forget about it by the time those developments happen I know I did.

Anyway REVIEW!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary**: In the first chapter.

**poorasdirt**: Thank you all for reviewing! Um, my sis found out that I finished this chapter and bugged me to put it up, so you may just have to thank her for this. I know for a fact that the next chapter has a lot of mistakes so it won't be up until I'm satisfied. Otherwise can you people review a bit more, I know it's difficult but really.

**Disclaimer**: I still only own the OCs and the plotline. Really if I owned the Twilight books I would have had Bella act a bit more like a normal teenage girl that got dumped by her boyfriend, sheesh. Still have no clue why I'm even writing this.

**ENJOY!!**

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The next few weeks were filled with spending time with her dad, catching up with Jacob, and talking with Madison. She even went to Hot Topic a few more times for new clothes and to see the hyper and happy Madison bounce around the store suggesting merchandise. Bella was surprised by how much she liked Madison, in fact Bella was sure if she got Alice and Madison in the same room it would be a hyper free for all. But in the weeks of getting to know the girl Bella was equally stunned by the wise input and the "now" attitude Madison had. Bella was slowly getting used to the attitude that what was in the past was in the past and there was nothing in the present that could change that. Even Charlie liked Madison, despite the initial impressions of punk meeting police.

"So, you're bike is almost finished?" Madison asked from her spot sprawled out on Bella's bed. The two were hanging out that Sunday since Jacob had to help Billy and Bella still didn't want to stay at the house alone.

"Yea, Dad is already looking into classes for me so we can go riding soon." Bella said with a smile seeing Madison lying on her bed, her head hanging over the edge so her long braid was coiled on the floor. Bella was surprised to note a few weeks back that despite working at Hot Topic, Madison didn't like wearing black. In fact the girl seemed more incline to white, silver, and pale blue in her wardrobe than any dark colors. Even now Madison wore some white wash form fitting jeans and a white baby doll shirt with the word Angel in glittery silver ink on the front. Apparently Hot Topic was the only place willing to hire a girl with so many piercings without asking questions.

"Well that's cool, then you can go riding whenever you like. Preferably not when it's raining cats and dogs out though, you don't need to end up water logged." Madison said getting a giggle from Bella.

"Yea, we wouldn't want me to have a sixty mile an hour bath." Bella said getting a grin from Madison.

"Hey Bell; I noticed when I was coming up that there seemed to be a large bear in the woods, all black and stuff. Do you know anything about it?" Madison asked with a frown.

"You too? There have been a lot of sightings of a large black bear in the woods, well they say it's a black bear but I don't know what it is. I don't think we get bears in the area often." Bella said with a frown.

"Huh, well if it was a danger there would be a party out to relocate it. I'm hungry; want to go raid the fridge and then crash in front of the TV? We have officially finished our homework at any rate; it's time to put our brains in idle." Madison said jumping up making Bella smile with a sigh and stand up as well. Both girls stretched happy to have finished all they had to do school wise, Bella was surprised how much about Science Madison knew. So after digging out some cold pizza they sat down in front of the TV and tried to find something interesting on.

"In other news there was an altercation between the local police and a mutant of unknown origin in Seattle today." The news anchor said as the two paused in their fight over the remote to look at the news channel they had inadvertently turned to in their tug of war with the said appliance.

"Mutant?" Bella asked getting a frown from Madison.

"Yea, there's been a lot of talk about mutants these days. I'm surprised it's finally reaching here of all places actually. I mean it's not that big of deal, so what if some people have just a bit extra in their genes that give them cool powers?" Madison said as the two turned to the story. On the screen there were images of the cops shooting at a boy who was probably in his early teens, the boy simply picked up a nearby car and chucked it at the police cruisers. "There's a lot of anti-mutant talk these days too. I'm getting sick of it really."

"Get a lot of that in Port Angeles?" Bella asked intrigued by the talk about mutants.

"Yea, my boss in particular is adamant that Mutants are a threat to everyday people's way of life. I think he's delusional." Madison said with a shrug. "People most of the time can't help what they are so that doesn't mean you can judge them on it. I mean it's like those movies with werewolves and vampires right? Most of the time, the people that are turned into them can't help what they are once their turned, you don't see people picking up pitchforks and torches to kill them most of the time, in fact people tend to idolize that stuff. I think they're just in love with the thought of immortality really."

"Why do you say that?" Bella asked surprised by the turn of conversation.

"Well think of it, do you want to die?" Madison asked and Bella thought before shaking her head. "So if you had the chance to live forever would you take it? If it meant you only had to suffer some form of pain for a small time, monster or not, would you want to insure you lived forever if you had the chance?" Bella thought about it before shrugging. It was the best response she could give since she did know vampires were real. That living forever unchanged could happen. Madison on the other hand seemed amused by the response. "I don't think I'd like to live an immortal life really."

"Why's that?" Bella asked surprised by that answer. She knew her friend was strange at times but not suicidal.

"Because I'd get bored after a few years, sure things would change around me but I wouldn't change really. I'd still be the same half insane Madison only I got new equipment and a new diet. Come on the reason life is worth living is because it's short; the monotony doesn't affect normal people because they know they only have one life to live and it usually is up after ninety years. It leads the human race to be spontaneous and curious about everything. That's at least how I see anyway." Madison said with a shrug and Bella nodded in agreement seeing where Madison was coming from. She even had a good example to turn to and that example was Rosalie Cullen. The vampire hadn't gotten over her human past even after all these years, always stuck in the fear that things would destroy her family and such. "Anyway let me step off my soap box and ask you how you're handling that bad break up of yours? Still a walking talking zombie of unknown origin?"

"I'm not a zombie of unknown origin!" Bella said tossing one of the pillows on the couch at her friend who laughed. "And for your information I'm better, it still hurts a lot but I'm slowly getting over it. But I'm angry too, very angry in fact."

"That's understandable. The guy callously left you after your failed birthday with not so much as a goodbye or I'll call you. Add insult to injury he tried to erase himself from your life by taking back all the presents he ever gave you like that would help. It only made it worse because you didn't have anything to throw when you realized how much of a jerk he was being." Madison said getting an agreeing nod from Bella. She wouldn't take back the wonderful months she had with Edward but at the same time she was beginning to get a better perspective of her situation thanks to Madison. "So what are you doing next weekend? Can we hang out again?"

"I was thinking about going fishing with my dad and his two friends, Jacob is starting to avoid me for some reason." Bella said with a frown looking down at that. Jacob who had happily spent time with her for the past few weeks was starting to find excuses to avoid her. Everything from him being busy with school to wanting to hang out with Embry and Quil was an excuse for him. "In fact he's been spending time with Sam recently too, a lot of time."

"What they an item or something?" Madison asked making Bella laugh suddenly at the absurdity of that comment.

"No, from what I can tell Jacob absolutely was annoyed with him for some time. I don't think there is anything romantic about the whole thing, besides Sam has a fiancé." Bella said shaking her head noticing Madison's amused grin, knowing the blonde only said it to get a reaction out of Bella.

"And yet you dream about him? What's up with that? Crushing on someone you can't have?" Madison asked having heard about Bella's nightmare were she was searching for something in the woods but not knowing what or where it was. In more recent time Sam Uley appeared in the dream standing there watching her but not offering help.

"No, but he is pretty good looking. I don't think he's a good part of the dream either; he's just stands there and doesn't offer any help or anything. Sometimes when I look away from him I see his image shift slightly but I don't know what it's about because I look back and he's still there." Bella answered with a frown.

"Maybe your subconscious is telling you something. Ever thought of pausing in your search to ask him something?" Madison asked and Bella shook her head.

"I don't think that's possible." Bella said with a shrug.

"Why not? It's your dream you should be able to control it to a point." Madison said in a slight whine as if not controlling your dreams was an offence to her. "Like the dream where you end up at that crossroad all the time, one day you'll have to choose a path to take. Personally I like the one with the field, even if you like the one with the cliff or the wolf. Despite how scary it seems now you get to walk in the light and be among the living, lots of living. Sure it'll have its ups and downs but no path is without some potholes along the way."

"What are you a walking fortune cookie?" Bella asked with a smile mentally agreeing with her friend though. None of the paths were perfect and none seemed to end with certainty except if you call jumping off a cliff into the ocean was an ending you would prefer. The paths were changing the more she dreamt of them. The one in the night now had storm clouds and harsh winds, the one with the wolf actually seemed like a pack of wolves would jump out since she could see flashes of fur, and the one with the field just seemed so untamed and wild it was hard to fully grasp what it really was.

"If I said yes would you enjoy eating me?" Madison asked playfully snapping Bella out of her thoughts.

"Cad!" Bella yelled in mock outrage before the two soon descended into a fun free-for-all pillow fight with laughter filling the living room. A few minutes later the two were lying on the couch and loveseat out of breath.

"In other news someone broke into the armory of the Military base a few minutes outside of Port Angeles." The news anchor said making the two girls look at the TV again. "Reports say that early last Tuesday a man in army fatigues and a ski mask entered the base from a break in the fence. He then made his way to the armory where he managed to take two rifles, a few handguns, and several rounds of ammunition. The Military Police responded but the man managed to escape custody. The hunt for the man is ongoing, the Military and local authorities assure residents that the man will be caught soon. Until then they advise people to be careful and report any leads they may come across."

"Man, talk about a messed up world." Madison said getting a nod from Bella.

"Normally nothing like this happens around here." Bella said with a sigh. "It's pretty quiet."

"Well a few days ago the cops on Port Angeles found a body in the docks. It was my classmate's father, had his throat torn open like some animal went at him. Aside from the slash across the neck that she swears were teeth marks there wasn't anything wrong with the body." Madison said with a frown.

"How'd he die then?" Bella asked not wanting to know the answer.

"Bleed out, they couldn't find even a single milliliter of blood in him. No one could say for sure what killed him but I think they labeled it accidental at least since there wasn't enough for criminal charges anywhere. My classmate is reveling in the attention though, she's an attention whore and all around popular girl that doesn't care about anyone but herself." Madison said blowing some of her bangs away from her face. "Kind of makes you want to strangle her sometimes."

"I know the feeling; we have two girls like that at my school too." Bella said but a little queasy since it sounded like a vampire attack. She knew for a fact that none of the Cullens would have attacked a human but that didn't mean all vampires were like the Cullens. Her run in with James and his coven drove home that fact a few months ago.

"Well enough of this morbid crap, let's bake a cake!" Madison said jumping off of the couch. Unfortunately she didn't have a good footing and ended up falling face first over the coffee table and onto the floor. Bella couldn't help but laugh at her friend's expense since it was something Bella would probably do, but not the surprisingly graceful Madison. The rest of the day was fun filled since Madison always found the excitement in anything, even if she was only armed with a rubber band, some pennies, and an old cup.

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YAY!! Not much goes on in this chapter I know, but my English teacher once told me that everything builds up to the climax, so I'm building. Although, I build better with Legos and not words, I'm sure.

Anyway REVIEW!!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary**: In the first chapter.

**poorasdirt**: Yes I finished this chapter and instead of letting my sister bug me for hours on end I decided to upload it as soon as it was finished. Now I've gotten a review from a confused reader about whether or not this is an X-men crossover. I'd say it is but the whole X-men and mutant thing is currently a background noise to help organize the setting. There will be a bit more about mutants in the future and it will be a long way away before the X-men or any other well-known mutant appears. I'm not telling you if Madison or Bella becomes a mutant because those questions will be answered in future chapters, I don't want to ruin the story for any of you. So all you have to do is wait and read and possibly review to motivate me to move faster. Chapter six is in the works but seeing as it's probably one of the longest chapters there will be some time for me to work through it. If I'm hit with insomnia I'll get it up tomorrow sometime if not the day after, I type pretty fast and seeing as these chapters are about four or five pages in Microsoft Word, it's not that hard to get them out. It's the organizing thoughts and editing errors that kills me. Anyway be patient and read is all the advice I can give you.

**Disclaimer**: When I own more than the OCs and the plotline I will no longer be poor as dirt, I doubt that will happen anytime in this millennia though.

**ENJOY!!**

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"Hey dad!" Bella greeted as she looked up from the manual she was referencing. She was sitting in the garage with a few of the last bits of her bike spread out around her. She still needed to replace more than a few of the lines but she was almost finished fixing the problems she had with the motor. She didn't think that rebuilding an engine would be so easy but once she figured out all the parts it was like a massive 3D puzzle. She wondered if it would be difficult to replace the radio that Edward probably tore out of her truck. She would have to ask Madison to look into it, since her friend knew a bit more about cars than she did.

"Hey Bella, almost finished?" Charlie asked going up to his little girl and the well organized mess that was her motorcycle.

"Yea, I'm going need your help to mount the engine soon. I almost got it all together; just have to replace a few bolts and the sparkplug." Bella said with a grin.

"That's good; it's nice to see things moving so well." Charlie said but he seemed distracted.

"Yea, I can't wait to actually start it up for the first time." Bella said looking at the slowly assembling bike with pride. "So how was work?"

"It was good; you know the usual paperwork and patrols." Charlie said and Bella frowned.

"Really? Mad and I saw a news clip yesterday that someone broke into the Amory at a military base near Port Angeles." Bella said wanting to get as much information as possible.

"Oh, that, yea, there was a theft there. But, don't worry about it kiddo, the man seems to have gone east of here." Charlie said and Bella nodded.

"Well that's good." Bella conceded with a sigh, she was just glad it didn't mean trouble was going to be coming their way.

"Yea, but you should still get home as soon as possible after your job. I don't want you running into any armed maniacs in the woods." Charlie half joked getting a snort from Bella. Ever since the whole Edward thing her dad had gotten rather protective of her.

"Don't worry dad, I won't go looking for trouble." Bella said with a smile hoping to soothe his worries. "By the way what are we doing this weekend? I know you have time off so how about we go fishing with Harry and Billy?"

"That sounds good but I still don't know why you insist on coming. You seemed to be over sensitive the last time you came." Charlie said with a slight smirk.

"Dad!" Bella whined. "Last time you didn't tell me you were going to use live bait. So I felt bad for the worm, imagine if someone decided to stick a sharp metal hook through you and dangled you in the water for a shark to eat! But this time I'll do better, I might even catch something other than Billy." She said with determination that made Charlie laugh at her.

"If you say so kiddo, maybe we can talk Jacob into coming along." Charlie said and Bella frowned.

"I don't know. Ever since he, Mad, Mike, and I went to the movies a few days back and he got sick, he hasn't really been keen on hanging out with me. I tried to call him several times but he won't answer or call me back. All I know was he got Mono and now he's treating me like the plague." Bella said in a huff as she glared at nothing in particular.

"Well we can invite him anyway, if he doesn't show up then he doesn't show up. Besides, more fish for us." Charlie said trying to cheer Bella up before she went through another angry tantrum. He noticed recently that she was now prone to more angry outbursts than she had before. He figured Bella was just going through a phase of dealing with her break up with Edward and that she'd soon work it out of her system. "Bella, I was thinking recently, there is a new self-defense class being offered at nights down at the station. It's open to the public; it covers a lot of techniques for self defense and some martial arts. Perhaps you can sign up; it might just help with your growing frustration."

"What growing frustration?" Bella asked confused with a frown marring her face.

"You've been a bit high-strung recently, ever since you got out of your depression from the Cullens leaving. Maybe it will help knocking a punching bag around a bit, but you don't have to. On the bright side you could learn how to defend yourself a bit better if someone attacked you." Charlie said trying to break it to her gently.

"I'll think about it." Bella said getting a satisfied nod from her dad.

"That's all I ask, now come on and get cleaned up. Harry and Sue stopped by and Sue insisted on forcing some lasagna on us. She insists that I don't turn you into my personal chef." Charlie said getting a giggle and nod from Bella. Even though she didn't want to stop working on her bike she knew she still had to eat and Sue's cooking was one of the best in her opinion.

Oddly enough Bella fell into an easy and fun routine juggling her time by fixing up her bike with Charlie. She also was fishing with Charlie, Harry Clearwater, and Billy Black. When she wasn't with her father she was either helping Harry's wife Sue around her house while her children Leah and Seth went out to hang with friends, or spent it with Madison hanging out to do school girl things. If she wasn't doing that she was either doing school related activities or was working at the sports shop. In that time she got really close to Billy, Harry, and Sue, finding out all of Jacob, Rachel, Rebecca, Seth, and Leah's embarrassing childhood memories in the process. However the day she was waiting for had arrived, she had finished fixing up her black motorcycle that amazingly enough was worth a lot, and she had finished all the safety classes Charlie had signed her up for. They were planning on going the day before but it was raining too much so they called it off, but today, though overcast, was perfect for a ride.

"Bella are you ready?" Charlie called snapping his helmet on and donning a pair of riding goggles since he didn't have a helmet that covered his head fully like Bella did. He had pulled out his old leather jacket that was in excellent condition and wore some jeans with some biker boots and some black leather gloves. Looking over he smiled seeing Bella had just put on her helmet but kept the visor up for now, she too wore her leather jacket, some jeans, and some old combat boots she had gotten at a thrift store one day, and some fingerless riding gloves.

"Yea! Come on dad let's go already." Bella said eagerly knowing they were going to be out for most of the day riding. Chuckling Charlie got on his bike and not long after the engine roared to life sounding like an angry wild animal. He was pleased to hear the responding roar of another bike next to him, nodding once to Bella who quickly put her visor down; the two took off down the street. The two roared down the twisting roads around Forks and the surrounding area before heading to Port Angeles for lunch. After that they road some more they headed to Billy's for dinner since Jacob had been invited on a camping thing with his friends.

"Well I'll be, never thought I'd see you on a bike after Renee left." Billy said as the two pulled in and cut the engines to their bikes.

"Hi Uncle Billy!" Bella greeted happily having enjoyed the ride with her father through the surrounding area of Forks. Ever since Bella started to spend time with Charlie and his friends she began to call them Uncle Billy, Uncle Harry, and Aunt Sue. It made the three very happy since they knew she was slowly coming out of the depression she had found herself in.

"Hey Bella, you're looking good. I hate to say it but you and that motorcycle look natural together." Billy said getting an agreeing nod from Charlie. The cop had at first been apprehensive but as Bella slowly got used to the whole idea of owning a bike and how to take care of it and ride it properly, Charlie saw a new side of Bella emerging. One that enjoyed working with her hands, that didn't mind getting grease on her clothes as she tried to figure out how to put the bike back together and make it work, and one that seemed to be so free that it was hard to imagine how depress she was only few short months ago.

"Really, I like it. I think I'll ride more often though, perhaps whenever the weather is good enough. I really enjoy it." Bella said walking with the two men into the house and they sat down for some food. The three of them chatted happily and Bella told Billy all about how she fixed up the bike with Charlie's help. Although both men couldn't help but notice how happy Bella was when she talked about the bike, she practically glowed. Charlie had to admit not even Edward Cullen could put the life into his daughter like a nice nineteen eighty seven Harley could.

"So are we still going to go fishing this weekend? Mad has some family things she has to take care of and I can't think of anything else to do." Bella asked curiously looking at her father.

"Actually I have to work overtime but I'm sure Harry wouldn't mind taking you. If you don't want that I heard on the news it's supposed to be nice. You probably could take your bike out for another ride, pack yourself something to eat or stop in to visit Sue." Charlie said getting a nod from Bella who didn't lose any of her enthusiasm about not going fishing with him. The three chatted happily through dinner and after Bella helped clean up the dishes while the two men talked.

"I really think that bike was good for her. I haven't see her this happy since the Cullen family left. She is perhaps even happier than she was before." Billy said getting a nod from Charlie.

"Yea, I noticed it to, and her friendship from that girl from Port Angeles has really helped. Bella said they just seemed to click when they met and have been spending a lot of time together now. I think Madison is even better friends with her than anyone at Forks High." Charlie said with a smile. "Although I know Jacob helped quite a lot up until he started to ignore her. Do you know why that is?"

"Not entirely sure, I think my boy is just going through some teenage phase. It doesn't help that I think Jacob has a crush on Bella of all things." Billy said with a smile. "Reminds me of when I was young really."

"Yea, hard to believe they're so grown up now. I can't believe that Bella is practically a legal adult, in a few more years she will be able to drink even." Charlie said with a sigh getting a chuckle from Billy.

"At least that girl of yours doesn't mind spending her time with some old timers like us. I can barely keep Rachel in the house these days. She's always running off to be with her friends or something, the same with Jacob." Billy said with a smile.

"Yea well Bella always seemed to be a bit strange. It's no wonder her new best friend is as equally as strange as she is. The two of them just don't seem to fit into the small town life, I hate to admit it but I can see a streak of adventure in both of those girls when they're together." Charlie said with a smile of his own.

"Has Bella given any thought into what she's going to do after school?" Billy asked looking at Charlie curiously.

"If she has, she hasn't told me about it yet. She's been saving up for college though so that's a plus, but I don't know anymore what she might do." Charlie said with a hopeless shrug. "Well I think we should be heading back, it's getting dark and the weather is picking up."

"Yea might as well end your day of riding on a happy note." Billy said with a smile. "Thanks for coming by for dinner."

"No problem, I won't turn down free food. Bella come on! We don't want to get caught up in a storm if it rains!" Charlie called as Bella put the last dish in the drying rack.

"Okay!" Bella called back before nearly skipping over to Billy. "Thanks for dinner Uncle Billy." She said giving the man a quick platonic hug that he returned with a smile and chuckle. Billy wheeled towards the door to see his friend and the girl he practically could call his niece get on their bikes again and take off back to Forks. Shaking his head, he was still smiling later that night at the mental image of a nearly hyper Bella enthusiastically going over all the parts of her motorcycle, telling him nearly in detail all the things that she managed to salvage and what she needed to replace. In all honesty, if it was only a motorcycle the girl needed to really start to come out of her depression, Billy would have bought her one several weeks ago when Charlie had first told him about how Bella reacted to the Cullens leaving.

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YAY!! Again things are developing to my liking. Don't think I have forgotten about her wierd crossroad dream either, it will come up again. I added some Billy but as you probably noted Jacob is still lurking elusively in the background somewhere. In all honesty I don't know much about Jacob's character to probably do him justice but when he does appear I will do my best. I wanted to show a bit more about Charlie and Bella's relationship and how it's progressed since the Cullens left. I think Bella is finally cooperating a bit more and I'm flushing out her character a bit, pretty soon she'll be to my liking. I also hope that none of the Bella fans out there take offense and are pleased with the development of her character, if not bash me all you like.

Anyway REVIEW!!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary**: In the first chapter.

**poorasdirt**: *Yawns* well I staid up all night really and I had nothing better to do, so only twelve hours after posting the last chapter I'm putting this one up. If I missed a few mistakes I blame it on my lack of sleep. I realize that this is a long chapter but I needed to start putting in some more plot developments rather than character ones. The next few chapters will have a lot of important events but before I get to them I'm going to sleep for ten hours. I'll get the next chapter up tomorrow after I finish editing, but I figure misspelling the word "and" twelve times in a row says something about my editing abilities at this moment. Right, oh and thank y'all for the reviews, I almost got ten!

**Disclaimer**: Normally I put something witty but I'm too tired, so anything you know I don't own then I probably don't own it.

**ENJOY!!**

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Again the days passed relatively the same but between fishing with the old men, riding her bike, school, and the constant chats she had with Madison, they didn't seem so monotonous. It wasn't until two weeks after she got her bike up and going that she realized the pain that Edward's departure had left was slowly ebbing away. The more she went riding the freer she felt, the freer she felt the happier she was, the happier she was the less the pain hurt. In fact she often caught herself forgetting about the vampire coven that used to haunt Forks Washington from time to time, in a way she felt almost normal. That didn't mean the lead weight in her stomach that she had begun to associate with anger and rage went away though. She often found herself uncharacteristically angry whenever she began to think of any of the Cullens but Edward in particular. Madison was right in one way, Edward Cullen had left to protect her but at the same time did it like she was just a play thing he enjoyed and then shelved when he lost interest in it. It made her feel used and broken and that in turn fueled her rage at him more. Then there was the fact that none of the other vampires said goodbye, she could understand Rosalie not caring since they had never gotten along well, but it felt like a painful knife to her gut that even Alice hadn't said good bye. It didn't help that she just knew Jasper was probably guilty of almost attacking her, and that thought just made her even angrier for some reason.

So to deal with the anger she took to going out on her motorcycle as much as she could. The feel of the wind rushing past her and the freedom of the open road calmed her down. Even on the mornings when she woke to her reoccurring nightmare she took to riding around on the roads to clear her head. It felt like a part of her was soothed by the rides, in fact she was even silly enough to imagine that a part of her wanted to get off the bike and run with the wind. The first few times she went out on her motorcycle she could hear perfectly and clearly Edward's voice telling her that it was stupid and reckless to go on a motorcycle, that she could injure herself if she wasn't careful, but the small angry part of her had snapped back "so what" at that voice after a while and the voice faded away like a whisper on the wind. The slight delusions she had about Edward in the beginning made her desperate, but then it turned into anger as well since she knew he wasn't there to tell her that himself. She was angry at herself mostly on that account; because, she didn't want to admit that some part of her still wanted him to be there and that it was her fault he left. She knew deep in her heart that it wasn't her fault actually, Edward was just scared, scared of her, scared of them, scared of all the what ifs that he couldn't see how much it had hurt her in the end. He didn't want to hurt her, he wanted to keep her safe, but in the end he failed miserably at that endeavor and she could only be angry with him about it.

Sighing she eased back on the throttle a bit realizing she was now pushing it a bit too far past the speed limit. That was what was great about riding, the speed gauge told her when she was getting too angry and was a visual reference for her to use to keep calm. To enjoy the ride rather than let her world try to suffocate her, she'd glance at it and it would tell her she was going too fast. She would have to slow down, regain control before she got herself hurt. And then, the anger would go back to where it came from, remaining a slow burn in the pit of her stomach that she could manage easily. Even when it started to spring to life when someone mentioned Jacob, knowing he more or less kicked her to the curb as well after he started to hang out with Sam Uley. Then she'd go for another ride and the anger would go back to its slow burn.

Pulling into her driveway with a content sigh she smiled seeing Charlie's cruiser was parked next to her truck. Occasionally Charlie would go riding with her; those rides were the greatest in her opinion. They went to many different spots around the area; she was beginning to enjoy the trips through the springtime woods immensely. "Hey dad I'm home!" Bella called before spotting Charlie watching a game in the living room.

"Hey, there's some pizza in the kitchen." Charlie said back with a smile. "Have a good ride?"

"Yea, but it looks like it'll rain in a few days so I probably won't be going out much." Bella said getting a nod from Charlie.

"That'd be best, the roads get pretty slick even around this time of year when it rains." Charlie said back before Bella went up to her room with some pizza intent on finishing up that Essay for English class. The essay was about how she dealt with stress. It mostly was about how she would go out riding on her motorcycle and how it helped her with her mood. Either that or ranting to Madison or if she couldn't do that, she'd go fishing with Harry and tell him everything on her mind. Harry was slowly becoming one of the pivotal rocks in her world. The same could be said about Billy, who she would go to when she wanted to complain about Jacob and how he was avoiding her. However she found a real ally in Sue. The woman was more motherly and mature than Bella's own mother; it was strange to have a real mother like figure in her life that was human. She wasn't afraid to go to either of the three or Madison if she needed someone to vent to. She even started to really open up to Charlie a lot, having bonded with him over motorcycles and rides. She often thought it funny she got along with the older generations, but then remembered that Madison was the same age as she was. However, Madison had a mature streak all her own despite her exuberant personality.

Shaking her head at her musings she quickly finished her essay and went to bed. Surprisingly she didn't dream at all that night and woke refreshed for the first time in a while. It wasn't that she didn't feel refreshed after one of her non-nightmare dreams, it was just it had been a while since she didn't dream. She didn't know what that meant but was grateful as she got ready for school. Grabbing a pair of black Capri pants with cargo pockets, a white t-shirt advertising Pink Floyd, and some rainbow toe socks she quickly put them on after taking a five minute shower. She put on a hemp chocker with tiger-eye stones, a silver bracelet that looked like barbwire, a leather necklace with a silver tiger pendant, and her watch she slipped them all in place while throwing her hair up into a messy spiky up-do. Slamming her feet into her beloved combat boots, she grabbed her leather jacket and her backpack and raced down the stairs. Catching herself easily on the last step so she didn't fall face first onto the floor, she went into the kitchen and glanced at her watch. She had enough time to scarf down a bowel of Coco Puffs before she had to be on the road to get to school on time. Charlie just chuckled as he watched her eat a bowel of cereal in record time before taking off to get to school before the bell rang.

The drive to school was uneventful but Bella was glad to be greeted by Angela when she got there. Angela was the only person at Forks High that Bella could stand nowadays. The two weren't exactly best friends but they were close enough. Bella walked into the school putting some lip-gloss on and was ready to face another monotonous day at school. The first few periods were wrought with boredom and lectures. Gym was somewhat of a relief but not that much. Finally Lunch rolled around and Bella snagged the seat next to Angela as she did most days now.

"So what are you up to this weekend?" Bella asked Angela curiously as she unpacked the lunch she had grabbed from the fridge on her way out the door. Bella was smart enough to pack her lunches at night before bed and leave them in the fridge; it left less guessing what the mystery meat at school was.

"Ben and I are planning to go to Port Angeles for a date on Saturday, and then I have to babysit on Sunday. What about you?" Angela asked returned with a curious look.

"This weekend Mad and I are going to be working on my truck. I've finally had it with the broken radio and managed to get a truck radio that will work. Mad promises there's a bit more she can do to the monster but I'm still skeptical." Bella said getting a smile from Angela. The shy girl really liked Madison simply because the blonde did something no one else could; Mad pulled Bella from her depression. Angela wouldn't exactly hang out with Mad willingly, believing her to be a bit too wild, but it was nice to see Bella coming back to life.

"I can't wait to see it on Monday. We're talking about the girl that fixed Ben's broken down car with a hairpin, a nylon stocking, some Elmer's Glue, and two bottles of water. I would love to see what she can do with proper tools." Angela said remembering the time she and Ben broke down on their way out of Port Angeles and Mad happened to spot them. Ben's car had a broken line that made his car over heat, but Mad fixed it enough that they could get home and even gave them all the information they needed to get it fixed properly.

"Yea, she's a bit of a MacGyver. You should have seen her homemade Skip-It. I feared for my health." Bella said with a fond smile.

"Why? What was it?" Angela asked in half curious and half dread.

"A balloon with a rock in it at the end of a piece of string and a step counter." Bella said getting a funny look from Angela that seemed a cross between concern, amusement, disbelief, and exasperation. "My thought's exactly." Bella said with a slight giggle.

"Well at least you can say you're never bored with her around." Angela said with a smile of her own.

"True, I suppose that's one way to look at it." Bella agreed and the two launched into another conversation about the recent new releases at the movies. That's when they saw a tear-eyed Lauren came into the lunch room and sat down. Her eyes were puffy and red, she was sniffling, and for the first time since Bella first saw the girl Lauren wasn't wearing make-up.

"Um, Lauren what's wrong?" Angela asked with concern also having never seen the confident popular girl this distraught before.

"Huh? Oh hey Angela." Lauren said wiping some fresh tears from her face. Usually Bella would write this behavior off as an act for sympathy but something told Bella that this wasn't an act. After nearly two months of being friends with Madison, Bella had come to trust her instincts, especially the instinct to duck when necessary.

"What's up Lauren, you look pretty, um, distraught?" Bella asked trying to be polite about it. In all honesty she wanted to say that the girl looked like someone cut her off of her bank account and she couldn't by Gucci anymore, but Bella figured that was a bit rude for the situation.

"It's nothing really." Lauren said but with a slight sob to her words. Angela and Bella shared a look before turning back to Lauren.

"It doesn't seem like nothing, so what's wrong?" Angela asked as Bella looked at the table that was all focused on the crying Lauren. Bella glared at them, but they did nothing but stare, so she stood up.

"Come on; let's go somewhere more private where these petty gossipmongers won't hear." Bella said nearly pulling Lauren out of her chair as Angela nodded and gathered their lunch. A few minutes of nearly dragging Lauren around later, the three found themselves in the empty girl's bathroom near the janitor's closet. Most of the female population of Forks High didn't like to use this bathroom because they all thought the janitor to be a rather creepy old man, so it was the ideal place for a private chat.

"Now Lauren, please tell us what's wrong, you're obviously upset over something and it might help to talk about it." Angela said calmly glad that her friend thought of relocating this conversation.

"Well…I don't know if you know, but two days ago my older brother went missing. Mom and dad were pretty upset about it, but he worked as a volunteer firefighter. I figured him and some of his buddies went to see if they couldn't track down that bear that's said to be around here. You know because the campers are coming and it won't be a good idea to have a bear so close to little children and pets." Lauren began with some small hiccups and sobs breaking up her words. "Well there was a search for him that started as soon as he was reported missing. I…I got a call from Mom just before lunch and they found his body. She…she said that it looked like an animal attacked him. Apparently it got him in the throat and completely ripped it open and he looked like he put up a struggle but he bled out." Lauren said before breaking down again. Angela was instantly next to the distraught senior giving her a comforting hug.

Bella stood off to the side a little awkward since she didn't really know what to do in a situation like this. She was a bit uneasy as well since it seemed like this was an exact replica of what Madison mentioned a few short weeks ago happening in Port Angeles. Bella hoped to whatever deity out there that it was a wild animal and not a vampire stalking the area. Because, if it was a vampire Bella had no idea what she could do to stop it; the Cullens weren't here and Bella knew for certain she wasn't powerful enough to go up against a vampire and hope to win. Bella suddenly found her growing frustration with this situation mount on top of the anger she had for the Cullen Coven. She made a mental note to talk to Madison about her growing anger and if it was normal, because she was beginning to get worried about it now. She also made another mental note to talk to her dad about those self defense classes he mentioned, hopefully they were still open and they could help with her anger issues.

"Lauren, did your mom say anything about you going home?" Bella asked after a minute of several deep breaths.

"Yea, but I told her I want to stay." Lauren hiccupped but Bella frowned.

"Look Lauren, I know we aren't friends or anything but even I can tell you won't be able to make it through the rest of the day. It's not that you aren't strong or anything, but you probably need to be with your family at a time like this." Bella began mentally cursing Madison for corrupting her. "Perhaps it will help both you and your family if you go home. You need to be with them and they probably need you right now too."

"But I have a major test coming up and I can't miss it." Lauren said making Bella frown.

"Well it won't do you any good if you can't concentrate on it either. Who's the teacher?" Bella asked curiously.

"Mrs. Baker." Lauren said getting a mild groan from Angela and Bella, both knew how high-strung that teacher was.

"Well come on, let's go talk to her and if we can convince her to let you take the test another time we'll call up your mother and see about getting you home. Does that sound reasonable?" Bella asked and Lauren gave her a funny look.

"Why are you helping me?" Lauren asked with a frown.

"Because despite everything that's happen to me, I still think I'm a good person and as a good person I feel somewhat obligated to help my fellow man or woman in your case." Bella said with a slight smile before the three went to talk to Mrs. Baker about the situation. In the end the strict teacher aloud it after talking to Mrs. Mallory on the phone, the only problem was Lauren was in no condition to get home by herself. The solution for this dilemma was simple; Bella called up Charlie who got her out of her last classes of the day so she could drive Lauren home. Once that was all cleared up they were home free, or would be had Jessica not shown up.

"Like oh my god Lauren, what are you doing hanging out with Bella?" Jessica asked making Bella's eyebrow twitch slightly. Bella was not in the mood to deal with Jessica at all, not since their falling out in January. The two had a silent agreement that if Bella ignored Jessica, Jessica in turn would ignore Bella; apparently Bella helping Lauren was a breach in their agreement.

"Bella offered to take Lauren home because she isn't feeling well." Angela explained calmly having walked with the two out towards Bella's truck.

"Well why didn't Lauren ask me to take her? I'm her friend and I wouldn't mind ditching my classes anyway." Jessica said before looking at Lauren. "That's what you two are doing right, skipping out on the last classes for today?"

"No, we have permission." Bella answered shortly with narrowing eyes.

"But I can equally get Lauren home and she won't have to be around you." Jessica said glaring at an increasingly agitated Bella. "I mean can you just think how much this will affect her popularity? Hanging out with such a loser?"

"Your friend is not feeling well and all you care about is popularity? Have you even asked her why she's so upset?" Bella asked slowly, finding her irritation growing quickly.

"Well no, if it was important she would tell me. We are best friends after all." Jessica started on along rant that Bella tuned out after the first two sentences. Some of it did penetrate but Bella was trying to get a hold on her anger, it wasn't working. Before Bella really knew what she was doing she had swung around to face Jessica and her fist was already sailing straight at the girl. A second later Jessica was lying on the ground with a bloody nose and a shocked look. Bella barely registered Angela's surprised squeak or the gaping expression on Lauren's face.

"Now listen here you shallow bitch, Lauren maybe popular but she's human too. Her mom called so she could get out of school because of circumstances only Lauren can share with you. If you think for an instant this is all about you and your popularity then you're not only wrong but fucking stupid." Bella growled in anger noting how frightened Jessica suddenly seemed. Taking a deep breath Bella turned to Angela who was looking at her in concern. "Angela, can you take Jessica to the nurse? If she asks you can either tell her Jessica ran into a wall or I punched her, I don't give a crap what the excuse is. I'll see you later; I have to get Lauren home."

"Okay Bella, I'll see you tomorrow." Angela said knowing right now Bella was probably very angry to start swearing. "Come on Jessica, before that blood ruins your nice shirt." Angela said helping Jessica to her feet with a concerned look. Jessica was still too stunned to do anything but comply, so it was easy for Angela to lead her back into the school.

"Thank you." Lauren muttered getting over her shock.

"Huh?" Bella asked letting Lauren get into the passenger seat of her truck.

"I said thank you, for everything." Lauren repeated getting a slight tired smile from Bella.

"Don't mention it." Bella said excepting the other girl's gratitude easily. The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful and Mrs. Mallory was there to greet the two when they pulled up. Once Bella was sure the two would be alright she went home, she had a few hours to kill before she had to go to work anyway. Deciding to finish her homework early she got right on it so she wouldn't have to worry about it later.

After work Bella decided to go for a walk on the trail near her house since Charlie wouldn't be home for a while. She learned from Mike at work that Jessica swore she tripped in the hall and smashed into a locker, Jessica ended up with a broken nose but otherwise was just fine. Mike said that Angela confirmed the story since she was there, and Bella wondered how difficult it was for sweet Angela to lie for her. Bella decided to find the best present she could to give to her friend.

Surprisingly the woods calmed Bella down a bit to think a little more clearly. She knew she snapped pretty bad at Jessica and decided even if she didn't want to she had to apologies. Sighing she walked a bit more into the forest before she spotted them, at first she had no idea what she was looking at but soon it became clear. There in the muddy forest floor were very large animal tracks, they looked almost like a dogs but she wasn't sure she ever saw a dog with those large of tracks; her hand could almost fit in it without too much trouble. But what was even more creepy was the fact that the tracks seemed to be going away from her house with no visible tracks going too her house.

As she contemplated what that could mean her instincts suddenly decided to shout warnings at her. She tensed and slowly looked around her, well aware she wasn't alone in the forest anymore and all the previous wildlife noises had quieted. Deciding she didn't want anything to sneak up on her from behind, she started to back up towards a tree to protect that glaring blind spot. Not seeing anything around her that could potentially be dangerous she spared a glance up and quickly dodged out of the way. She landed on her back on the forest floor as someone, a man it looked like, dropped down where she had just been. Instead of being frozen with fear, something in her screamed she needed to back away and stand up, even as the man chuckled at her.

"Well you have rather good reflexes at least, for a human." The olive skinned man said as he looked up at her and she blinked at the red eyes.

"Vampire." She hissed standing up with another tree to her back.

"Yes, so you do know. No doubt with being the partner to Edward Cullen." The vampire said with a grin. "I can see what he was so attracted to you at first; your scent is very tempting." The vampire said walking towards her.

"Who are you?" Bella asked edging around the tree slowly, trying to keep as much distance between her and the vampire as she could. "What do you want?"

"My name is Laurent and I was asked to track you down as a favor for Victoria." Laurent answered with a smirk. "She wishes to get revenge from Edward Cullen for the destruction of her mate James."

"James." Bella muttered as the events from a few months ago came rushing back to her. She knew she'd probably never forget that tracker vampire anytime soon. "So you're just going to hand me over to Victoria?"

"I was but now that I've found you, I am willing to offer you a quick death now. You see Victoria plans to torture you before killing you, to make Edward know just how much pain you were in before you die." Laurent continued to explain but Bella only half listened. She knew she had to keep the vampire talking, a talking vampire was best in this situation; because, if he was distracted he wouldn't be inclined to eat her.

"It should have been easy to find me; after all you knew where the Cullens lived probably. Why didn't you show up sooner?" Bella asked still edging away from him cautiously. Ten feet seemed a good distance for a polite conversation in this situation, so that's how far he tried to keep him.

"It was because of those damn wolves." Laurent said sounding somewhat peeved.

"Wolves?" Bella asked curiously since this subject seemed to distract the vampire the most.

"Yes the Quileute wolves, they are a bunch of shape shifters that have sworn to protect their reservation and the surrounding area from vampires. They have a treaty with the Cullens but since the Cullens are no longer in the area they have expanded their range. They've been hunting me ever since I've entered the area." Laurent said glaring off to some point in the woods.

"Would one of them happen to be a big black one?" Bella asked curiously.

"Yes, why do you ask?" Laurent asked sounding intrigued.

"Well there have been a lot of reports of a large black bear in the woods; I just figured it might be a wolf rather than a bear since there's a lot of people that say it isn't a bear at all." Bella said and Laurent started to laugh. Bella took those few minutes to see where she was going by glancing over her shoulder. She realized with some annoyance that maybe five feet away from her was a small gorge, it wasn't a deadly drop but it would make moving away from the vampire difficult. "So just out of curiosity, I heard of a lot of animal attacks recently as well. But every attack left the victim without even a drop of blood. So are you behind that?"

"I'll admit that yes I've been feeding in the area. I was in Alaska before this with a group of vegetarian vampires and as much as I've come to love one of them, I couldn't quite adjust to their lifestyle." Laurent admitted with a smirk. "But Victoria is also in the area so she may have caused a few of them as well."

"Well that's heartwarming." Bella muttered sarcastically as the mental voice that sounded oddly like Madison was telling her to ask more about Victoria's whereabouts. Since through this whole thing that mental voice hadn't steered her hopelessly wrong yet, she agreed. "So who was responsible for what? Did you kill that guy in Port Angeles or was that Victoria's doing?"

"I can't say for certain." Laurent said with a shrug before suddenly appearing right in front of Bella.

In the next second several things happened, one Laurent completely scared the stuffing out of Bella. This caused her to jump back with a startled yelp and also get her foot stuck on a loose log that sent her tumbling backwards into the small gorge. The resulting scream not only startled Laurent who hadn't realize all this time Bella was slowly getting away from him, it also alerted a nearby patrolling guardian to the situation. As Bella fell she saw Laurent rush over to probably catch her and eat her, or to see if she died of the fall, but she also saw something large reddish-brown and wolf like rushing at the vampire. She got a good glimpse of Laurent taking off before she felt her head hit something solid and the world went black on her.

When the world decided to return to light and color Bella groaned and her hand instantly went to her head. She had the weirdest dream about a bunch of overly large wolves in tutus dancing to the sugar plum fairy with a vampire string band in the background playing the music. She decided no more horror movies for her before bedtime. That was until everything came rushing back to her and she groaned again but this time not from the sudden consciousness.

"Bella, you're alright!" A voice nearby said and she looked up to see Charlie standing there.

"Yea dad, I'm fine. I had the weirdest dream though." Bella said shaking the last bits of dream fuzz from her vision. "Where am I?"

"You're at the hospital." A doctor said making Bella blink at him. "Can you tell me what happen just before you blacked out?"

"Well I went for a short walk in the woods by my house to clear my head. I was on my way back when I tripped on a loose branch or root or something and fell into a hole in the ground I think. Or that's what I think it was, I remember hitting my head on something and then I was dreaming about large tutu wearing wolves dancing to the sugar plum fairy with a vampire string band playing the music." Bella said somewhat honestly, there was no way she was going to tell them about Laurent or the large reddish-brown wolf she saw. "How'd I end up in the hospital? And how long have I been out?"

"Well Sam Uley was dropping off some fish that Harry wanted us to have when he heard someone scream in the forest. He went to go check and found you in a small gorge unconscious and rushed you here as quickly as he could. You've been out for around five hours; it's nearly twelve at night." Charlie said getting a nod from Bella.

"Ms. Swan I advised your father here that we keep you for the rest of the night and a bit of tomorrow. We were concerned you may have suffered some significant head trauma and would like to keep you for observation." The doctor said getting a nod from Bella.

"Okay, you're the doc." Bella agreed getting a pleased nod from the doctor who then left. "Hey dad, before you go, I was wondering if those self defense classes you talked about are still open."

"How about we talk about it tomorrow after you get out of the hospital? For now just get some rest Bella, you gave me quite the scare." Charlie said with a relived smile to see Bella was doing well.

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow dad." Bella said getting a hug from her dad before Charlie had to leave. Bella thought a bit about what happen with Laurent and the wolf before drifting off to sleep once more.

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YAY!! Things are moving in a steam roll fashion I think. We see a glimpse of a certain wolf most Twilight fans will probably recognize. Sorry about the whole tutu wearing wolf thing, I just had a crazy dream like it before. Only instead of wolves they were lions and it was a bunch of kangaroos not vampires on the strings. If you don't understand what I mean by strings I'm talking about clasical instuments like the harp, violin, and other such things of that nature. Um, yea, also when I watched the movie New Moon (I went with my sis to see it) I wanted to really punch Jessica so this is me living vicariously through Bella. Otherwise, yea, I really need sleep so I think I'm going to do that now. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns that don't try to trick me into revealing what happens next, you know what to do:

REVIEW!!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary**: In the first chapter.

**poorasdirt**: I've officially become a night owl since it's early in the morning and I haven't gone to sleep yet. Though, I do have to do the dishes so just as soon as I finish posting this I'll probably do that. Um, yea, I am one review away from having ten reviews, yay! I've almost completed the next chapter but won't be posting it till tomorrow cuz I think this chapter needs time to sink in. The climax is coming people that's all I have to say. So thanks to those that have reviewed, alerted, or favorited this story! It let's me know this isn't a complete waste of my time concidering I am by no means a Twilight fan.

**Disclaimer**: I own only the OCs and the plot line, everything else belongs to other people like Stephenie Meyer (Ha! I finally remembered her name but I'll forget it soon I'm sure) and Marvel comics and such. I am making nothing for writing this except other people happy.

**ENJOY!!**

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"So let me get this straight, you punched some popular girl in the face, broke her nose, and now you are taking self defense classes?" Madison asked as the two sat on a bench. The two of them had spent the past two days working on Bella's truck at Phil's father's auto shop. Madison was good friends with her coworker and his family so they were given a free space to work so long as it didn't interrupt regular business. The two of them were waiting for the body to come back from paint; Madison gave no guaranties since they were using the left over paint that was in the booth to paint Bella's truck. It was cheap but Brad, the paint master, assured them that he'd do the best job he could. Everything was fixed so Bella could have driven out but at the last minute Brad offered to paint the truck for fifty dollars so they agreed. It kind of looked a bit strange with the sanded repaired spots where they fixed the rusted areas anyway.

"Well yes and no, I did break Jessica's nose but no one aside from Jessica, her friend Lauren, my friend Angela, and I know that. I'm taking the self defense classes to try and curb my anger problems. The guy I'm learning from said that with meditation and some deep breathing exercises I could get a handle on my anger. He also said it would help if I took it out on a punching bag for an hour or two, so he's been helping me." Bella said somewhat sheepish. "Besides, I apologized. Jessica also apologized since she was being such a stuck up brat at the time."

"But from the sounds of it, your problem isn't really anger just built up frustration." Madison said with a shrug.

"I know, but I don't know what to do about it." Bella said with a frown.

"Get laid." Madison suggested looking genuinely confused at the glare Bella gave her. "What?"

"And how will me getting laid, help in this instance?" Bella asked with an eyebrow twitched.

"Um, well maybe you're hormones are acting up, just because we're female doesn't mean we don't like that sort of attention." Madison said making Bella sigh and roll her eyes.

"I don't think it is sexual frustration though, I think it's more along the lines that I'm still pissed off about the whole getting dumped thing. You're right about me not having something to throw, I want so much to throw something that reminds me of Edward or at the very least throw it at him, but there's no way that's going to happen." Bella said making Madison hum thoughtfully.

"There's his house right? You said no one lives there anymore; why not break a window or two?" Madison asked getting a disbelieving and somewhat annoyed look from Bella.

"I'm not going to go vandalize property to fulfill my own needs. I'm still the daughter of a cop if you can remember." Bella said getting a shrug from Madison.

"It was just a suggestion. Ah well, I think a punching bag would be great if you can visualize him enough that is. You know imagine if he's the punching bag and all that mental mumbo-jumbo." Madison said getting a smile from Bella.

"Yea, I probably could. Hey can you ask how long this is going to take? I need to get back to Forks." Bella said getting a nod from Madison. The blonde pounced off happily to talk to some of the men before she quickly came back.

"It probably won't be ready until tomorrow." Madison responded.

"Tomorrow? But I have school tomorrow." Bella nearly whined. "Oh well, luckily enough it's supposed to be nice for the next few days so I could probably ride my bike to school and come pick up my truck afterwards."

"Yea, I'll be here so I can help you load it up." Madison said with a smile. "How about I go tell Brad we're taking off and then I give you a ride back to Forks?"

"Sounds great, can you help me up? I feel like someone tried to play Barbie doll with me and wasn't very gentle about it." Bella said getting a snicker from Madison who helped her friend off the bench. It wasn't long before the two of them were on their way to Forks.

The next day Bella got on a pair of nice dark blue jeans and a black form fitting t-shirt with a blood red gothic butterfly on the front resting on a white rose. Taking a quick shower she got dressed and grabbed a pair of black and white toe socks, cursing Madison for making her fall in love with the dang things. Once her socks were on she grabbed her normal jewelry and her back pack before going down stairs. After nearly tripping down the stairs she went into the kitchen and got a decent breakfast before shoving her lunch into her backpack. Luckily the forecast was right and though overcast it wasn't about to rain anytime soon. Handing Charlie his breakfast and coffee she gave him a peck on the cheek and went to put on her boots. Tossing on her leather jacket and grabbing her helmet she called out her goodbye to Charlie before going to school. It wasn't the first time she drove to school on her bike but then again it usually rained at some point in the day and she didn't want to get her bike waterlogged.

She explained to Angela that her truck wouldn't be ready until tomorrow and also gave the girl a box of really good fudge. When Angela asked what the occasion was, Bella simply told her that it was because Angela was one of her greatest friends and left it at that. Bella sat through the monotony of school waiting anxiously for the bell to ring so she could get to work and then finally get her truck back. She did note however, that though the rumor mill caught wind of Lauren's family tragedy, it was kept on a low key out of respect for the family. She did hear her name mentioned a few times, she wasn't sure if it was a good mentioning or a bad mentioning. In all though Lauren gave Bella more respect than any other time the two knew each other, it also helped that Jessica gave Bella as wide a space as humanly possible. That also extended to Angela who just smiled and kept things polite between all four girls as she possibly could. Jessica's nose was reset and mending well but Bella could see it would come out just a tad bit crooked, Bella had no regrets whatsoever about it though.

Soon enough she was free of school and not long afterwards, free of work. She had quickly clocked out and went straight towards Port Angeles to pick up her truck. She hoped it didn't come out a kaleidoscope of awful colors, but she trusted Madison and in turn trusted Brad. Once she saw her truck she was amazed at the transformation. It was two-toned with a silvery gold pinstripe down the middle. The top half was a cool greenish purplish blue color while the bottom half was a dark reddish orange color. The sides of the bed matched the top half of the truck while the bottom of the bed was a nice powdery dark gray steel color as well.

"Like it?" Madison asked coming up to her friend that was looking at her truck in awe.

"Like it? I love it! How is this all left over paint?" Bella asked still surprised by the outcome.

"It's mostly paint that was wrongly mixed together and then mixed with another color. Although I have to admit it came out awesome compared to what it was." Madison said getting a nod from Bella. "So let's get your bike loaded up.

"Yea, I can't wait to show my dad and Uncle Billy this." Bella said with a grin.

"You and me both; call me and tell me their reactions." Madison said as they loaded Bella's bike onto the truck bed. After Bella thanked Brad for doing such a great job she went to her truck and turned it on. One of the things Madison insisted on was putting a V-8 engine into the truck; it had taken them a few trips around the junk yard before they got all the components they needed. They also got a few parts from the impound lot for a cheap price as well. To hear the engine now purr to life was amazing and soon Bella was driving down the road to Forks listening to an actual radio. She still had to get to her self defense class and then do her homework at home. After her classes she got a laugh out of Charlie's reaction to her new truck since he seemed absolutely speechless.

That night after Bella finished up her latest English essay she went to bed. It was then she found herself on a very familiar path. The wind however was whipping around her and it was harsher than ever before. Shivering at the cold feel to the wind she quickly made it towards the spot where the path split into three others. She didn't know why but she felt she had to get there quickly. It was probably the harsh winds that tried to knock her about. Once she got there she gasped in shock. Standing down the path to the wolves was Jacob Black and behind him Sam Uley, Embry Call, and a few other men she didn't know but who were obviously from the reservation. Taking a step back she looked to her left and was again surprised. Standing on the path towards the cliff was Edward Cullen next to another vampire that she had never seen before, male tall with ruby eyes; behind the two male vampires were the Cullen Coven and a few other crimson eyed vampires she had never seen before. Whipping around to her right she sighed happily seeing the field but no one stood there. The sky was saturated with storm clouds, lightning was crashing on top the cliff, and the winds blew harshly. However the grass of the field simply swayed as if nothing bad would happen to it. Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes she looked back at Jacob only to find him gone and a pack of wolves in the place of the men. Turning to her left she found herself looking at an empty forest of stone again. The winds were still harsh and the sky still bleak, but the shock of seeing two of the men that caused her anger to rise to unseen levels hadn't worn with them disappearing.

"Bella." A familiar voice said behind her and she turned to find Charlie standing there with a small smile on his face. She had to blink a bit because there seemed to be an unnatural glow to her father as he stood peacefully in the raging storm.

"Dad?" She asked with a frown as he stepped closer to her.

"I love you Bella always remember that." Charlie said with a smile as he gathered her up in a hug.

"Of course Dad, why would I forget something like that?" Bella asked with a frown returning the hug. Something slithering up and down her spine told her this wasn't right, her father wasn't supposed to glow.

"I want you to pick a path Bella, go somewhere in your life." Charlie said either not hearing or ignoring her question. "But above all else I want you to follow your heart and stay safe."

"Don't worry Dad, I will." She promised holding onto Charlie but suddenly after she felt the kiss on her forehead she felt him pull away. "Dad, where are you going?" She asked looking up seeing him walking back down the path she had just taken.

"Love you sweetheart." He called back with a smile and she suddenly became panicked trying to follow him but she couldn't move.

"Dad wait! Come back!" She called trying to him back to her but he couldn't hear over the winds. Then as the path took a bend she watched as he disappeared and the storm stopped. "No! Dad! Daddy!" She called but no one responded, nothing moved, and when she turned back to the three choices she had, she found all of the life seemed to have disappeared on them. She could still see the wolf prints on the muddy trail ahead of her, could still see the waves crashing against the cliff to her left, however the path to her right lacked the forest animals it once had making her sad for some reason.

Suddenly overwhelming anger over took her. She was supposed to choose where she wanted to go. Her father wanted to follow her heart, but both the trail towards the cliff and the trail towards the wolves angered her. She was disgusted with the trails for some unexplainable reason, like they were the reason her dad had just left her there. Snarling at the two trails she turned to her last choice and frowned. Taking a step towards the field she felt her eyes water with unexplainable sadness. The field was always teeming with life and now it seemed so empty. She wanted the animals back, to see the rabbits bounce in and out of the grass, to hear the crickets, to see the butterflies, to just simply see the various forms of life in the field. Before she knew it her heart lurched and she walked quickly into the field to search for the life that she knew as there. As she walked down the path intent on finding the life that used to run rampant through the field, she heard a large crack that reminded her of a loud clap of thunder. However, it filled her with dread because it came from the direction her dad had been in.

She sat up abruptly in her bed gasping for air. Looking around wildly she noticed she was in her room, in her house, safe. The clock on her nightstand proudly displayed that it was four in the morning. Running a shaky hand through her hair she tried to calm down. She tried to convince herself that it was just a dream but she couldn't shake the feeling of dread. Deciding even if it was silly, she pushed the duvet off of her and went to check on her dad who was sleeping peacefully in his bed. With another shaky sigh, knowing she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep after that dream, she went to take a shower. After getting on the clothes she was going to wear to school she looked out at the still darkened sky. It wasn't raining; the night seemed still, so she quickly wrote a note to her dad and walked out of the house with her bike keys in her hand. Flinging her jacket on and putting on her helmet she started up her bike and took off into the night. She rode out of Forks and went for a long drive; almost like she was trying to outrun whatever dread her dream filled her with. After an hour of driving she turned around, feeling at least a bit better as she regained control of herself once more. As she made it back to her house she watched as the sun began to slowly lighten the sky. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a large black figure running through the woods almost at the same speed of her bike. Watching it out of the corner of her eye for a few moments she decided it wasn't going to do anything to harm her and focused once more on driving. It didn't take her long to get to her house and she still had thirty or so minutes before she had to make her way to school.

"Bad dream?" Charlie asked seeing Bella walking in with her helmet in her hand. He knew she would occasionally go out riding if she couldn't get to bed after another nightmare. He didn't know what her nightmares were about but they were slowly going away since they started in September.

"Yea." Bella said with a sigh running a hand through her hair. The rest of the morning was quite as she made a quick breakfast for the two of them. Then as she was about to go out the door to school she turned around and gave her father a large bear hug. "I'll always love you daddy." She said getting a surprised look from him.

"I'll always love you to Bella." Charlie said with a warm smile holding his little girl. "You have to go to school Bella; you don't want to be late."

"Yea, sorry, I just felt like I really needed to tell you that." Bella said a little sheepish at her actions.

"We all need to tell our parents that at some point. Just get to school and be safe about it." Charlie said making Bella smile.

"Yea, you be safe too." She said before walking out of the house and making her way to her truck. She made it to school on time and was greeted by Mike and Angela. Mike hadn't really given up trying to date her but now they were much more comfortable as friends. Angela on the other hand was stunned at how her truck had turned out. Both even commented on how the truck sounded different and Bella had to explain that Madison and she had quite literally changed the engine.

The day proceeded uneventfully as usual with Bella itching to get home so she could go for a ride on her bike. The ride that morning, though it helped her keep things together during school, hadn't been long enough in her opinion. There was also the fact that she had to get through work before she could go riding at all. She almost was caught daydreaming in Calculus as she tapped her foot impatiently on the floor to make the clock go faster. Other than that it seemed like a relatively normal day, with her sitting with Angela at lunch talking about what they were planning to do that weekend. Bella was planning on going fishing with the old men and then spending Sunday at home doing her homework. Angela was going to be going out with Ben again and also was going to go to a museum with her family.

Soon Bella was sitting in her last class watching the clock again. She was quickly getting agitated with school, wanting nothing more than to simply take off and go out riding. She was even contemplating taking a sick day just to be able to get out onto the road faster. It was then as the last few minutes of school were displayed on the clock that a knock on the door came, stopping the last few minutes of the last lecture of the day. She watched as the teacher went over to the door and from her vantage point could see the vice principal in the doorway. "Isabella Swan, you need to go to the office." The teacher said and she nodded gathering her books and stuff. She blocked out the few noises her classmates made, sure she was in some sort of trouble. "Here's the homework." The teacher said handing her a piece of paper with the homework written on it. She nodded her thanks and went out the door to the principal's office.

When she got to the office she wanted nothing more than to turn around and run out. Standing there in the office with the principal was a stocky man with a grim face and a police outfit. "Ah, Isabella, please take a seat." The principal requested and she did as she was told almost moving on autopilot at this point.

"Hello Bella, I'm Deputy Travis." The police officer said getting a nod from Bella. She vaguely remembered the man from a few days back when she dropped some food off at the station for her father who was working late.

"Is there something wrong?" She asked softly already knowing in her gut something wasn't right but she was dutifully denying it the best she could.

"You could say that, you're not in trouble if that's what you're asking. You see earlier today we got a call about the armory thief so a group of our deputies went out to follow the lead. Your dad went with them to see if he could offer assistance. They found it was indeed the man responsible and there was an altercation, shots were fired. I'm sorry Bella but your father's in the hospital in critical condition. We felt it best to inform you since you're his only next of kin." Deputy Travis said and Bella was glad to have been sitting down since she didn't know if her knees would have held her up right if she was standing. She opened and closed her mouth a few times trying to work past the shock as the thunder of her dream rumbled through her ears.

"A-Are you sure?" Bella finally managed to force out, her hands shaking from the shock. From just the grim look on the man's face she knew he was telling the truth. Before he could answer, she abruptly stood up. "I have to get to the hospital." She said getting a nod from the Principal.

"Drive safe." The principal said knowing in cases like these it was best to simply let the children off.

"I'll give you an escort, my cruiser is outside anyway." Deputy Travis said wanting to make sure she would make it here safely.

"Thank you." She said picking up her backpack and exiting the office as the last bell finally sounded. She was going to rush straight to her truck when she saw Mike in the hall. "Mike!"

"Yea Bella? What's wrong? Some kids said you were pulled out of your last class." Mike asked concerned seeing how pale Bella was; it was like she was fighting not to go into shock.

"My dad's in the hospital, can you cover for me today?" She asked hoping he'd say yes.

"Of course, is it bad?" Mike asked with a frown.

"They said he's been shot and is in critical condition. I don't know; I have to go." She said in a rush and before he could respond she was already out the door. It was probably a good thing she followed the cruiser down the road since it kept her from putting the petal to the metal and gunning it all the way to the hospital. Though the drive to the hospital seemed to have been drawn out and longer than any other time she went, she couldn't exactly say she knew what was going on through it. She seemed to be decidedly numb until she got to the hospital and actually found a nurse that would tell her about her dad.

"He's been shot multiple times; they're in the operating room right now trying to stop the bleeding." The nurse had said. "There had to be at least five gunshot wounds." The nurse had informed her. "He was stable when they brought him in." The nurse assured her. "He's strong, he may just pull through."

Sitting in the waiting room waiting for the doctor to come and tell her what was wrong she tried to hold onto something. When she realized she was alone she stood up and walked to the payphone in the hall. She was surprised to see her hand shake as she picked up the receiver and put some money in. Still running on autopilot she dialed a familiar number, one she had memorized ever since she started to hang out with the old men. She waited patiently willing someone to pick up and after the second ring someone did.

"Clearwater household this is Leah speaking, what can I do for you?" Leah asked and Bella tried not to cringe knowing Leah was a bit hostile towards her.

"Hey Leah, I need to talk to Harry, it's important, can you put him on?" Bella asked surprised her voice sounded so even and calm.

"Sure." Leah said obviously not knowing who was calling. "DAD! Someone is on the phone for you, says it's important!" The woman called and there was a response in the background. "No she didn't say who it was." Leah said before it sounded like the phone was handed of.

"This is Harry, how can I help you?" The familiar male voice asked and Bella tried to form the words.

"Uncle Harry, its Bella." She said wondering when her throat started to constrict so tightly.

"Bella? What's wrong?" He asked in concern and she fought not to sniff.

"I…He…They…Uncle Harry I don't know what to do." She said trying to form the words and sentences she wanted but not being able to.

"It's okay, tell me what's wrong." Harry said calmly and she did sniff.

"They told me he might be okay, but I'm scared." She managed to push through as her voice seemed to be caught in her throat.

"Who might be okay? Bella where are you?" Harry asked and Bella could hear someone in the background asking him what was wrong.

"Daddy, he's, I'm, the hospital, gunshots, Uncle Harry what am I supposed to do?" Bella asked helplessly clenching the phone tightly.

"You need to calm down, take some deep breaths and tell me why you're at the hospital." Harry said and Bella bit her lip before taking a few deep breaths and letting them out. Her vision was starting to blur now but she needed something, anything, or anyone to be there with her.

"A deputy came to school; he told me dad was in a gun fight, he's in the operating room." She managed and Harry went silent on the other end of the line. "Uncle, I'm scared, what do I do?" She asked sounding so young and helpless that finally he sighed.

"Just sit tight, I'll be there a soon as I can." Harry said getting a small okay before he heard Bella hang up. Hanging up his own phone he turned and quickly went to get his jacket.

"Harry what's wrong?" Sue asked in concern while Seth and Leah watched their father curiously.

"Charlie's in the hospital." Harry said making Sue's eyes widened.

"But he'll be okay won't he?" Seth asked knowing Charlie Swan thanks to the friendship his dad had with the man.

"I don't know; he's in the operating room at the moment." Harry said putting on his jacket.

"Why is he there?" Leah asked with a frown. As much as she might not like Bella, she wouldn't want to wish this on the other girl.

"From what Bella told me he was in a gun fight while on duty. She's at the hospital now and sounds like she's alone." Harry said making all three of his family members freeze.

"I'm coming with you." Sue said putting down the food she was preparing for dinner. "Leah, make sure your brother get to bed at a reasonable time and you both get something to eat. I don't know how long your father and I will be there."

"Sure mom." Leah said seeming to be numb with shock while Seth looked at the two not really comprehending what was going on.

By the time Harry and Sue got to the hospital Bella was sitting in the waiting room clutching the edge of her seat fighting back tears. Sue instantly was by Bella's side holding the girl who latched onto the Quileute woman like she was the only thing keeping Bella grounded to the earth. "Has there been any news?" Harry asked softly sitting down next to Bella.

"No, the nurse said dad was shot five times, he was stable when they brought him in." Bella said softly not letting Sue go. Harry mentally cursed knowing that Bella was just getting out of her depression when this happened. Sighing he stood up.

"I'm going to see if I can't get any more information then call Billy." Harry said getting a nod from Sue.

"Don't worry Bella we're here." Sue said holding onto Bella like she was one of her own children. Sue staid holding Bella and gently rocking back and forth. Her eyes watched as her husband went from talking to a few nurses before going to the phone. Soon he walked back over and sat next to the two of them. "Well?"

"He's in the operating room still, one of the bullets managed to pierce his bullet proof vest. It was a high velocity round or something the nurse said, anyway it got too close to his heart. Another ruptured his liver, one to his femur it shattered the bone and cut open one of his arteries, another nearly missed the main artery to his neck and the last one caught him in the right arm." Harry said getting a nod from his wife. "They're trying to stop all the bleeding and patch him up but he's in bad shape. Billy wants me to keep him updated."

"And the man responsible?" Sue asked with a frown.

"The cops have him in custody. Charlie at least got his man, a bullet straight to the lower spine from what the nurse said; it paralyzed him from the waist down." Harry said getting a nod from Sue, both pleased to hear that the man responsible wasn't still at large. The next few hours were passed in silence as both comforted the girl that was their niece in everything but blood. Sue ended up calling Leah to inform her that the two were probably going to stay at the hospital until morning, since Charlie wasn't out of the operation room yet. Surprisingly both Leah and Seth wanted to know how bad it was and even asked their mom to tell Bella that Charlie was in their prayers.

The three had a few visitors among the police force stop by, all of whom were angry with the man responsible for Charlie's condition. When people said that the police force was a family they meant it and most of the officers sat with Bella in order to give Sue and Harry a small break every now and then. It was four in the morning when the doctor finally approached them looking grim as ever. Harry looked up with a frown hoping it was good news while Bella stirred from the light sleep in his arms. "Ah, Harry Clearwater, good to see you." The doctor said with a nod. "I suppose you're here about Charlie too."

"How is he?" Harry asked with a returning nod.

"Well he made it through surgery and is relatively stable. He's been moved to ICU. However I have to warn you he's still in very critical condition. The next forty eight hours will be important since they will decide if he pulls through or not. Even if he does I don't think he's going to ever be on the police force again, the gunshot to his leg was very messy. Most of the bone was shattered into small hardly recognizable pieces." The doctor said getting a nod from Harry.

"Can we see him?" Harry asked knowing Bella needed to see her father.

"Of course, he's in room 203, just take the elevator down the hall and go down the left hallway." The doctor said seeming just as tired as everyone else was. "And Harry I have to warn you, Charlie signed the papers so we can't put him on any form of ventilation. We can try to resuscitate him but really it's up to him whether he pulls through this or not. We had to give him at least two blood transfusions in the operating room alone. We practically replaced all the blood in his body at least once if not twice so when I say the next two days will determine his survival I mean it."

"Thanks doc." Harry said and turned to Bella who was more or less dozing next to him, holding his arm in a vice grip to keep him from going anywhere. "Bella, kiddo, come on, your dad's out of surgery and we can go see him." Harry called getting Bella to look up at him.

"Is he going to be okay?" She asked softly not letting go even as Harry helped her up.

"I don't know Bella, I really don't know." Harry said honestly looking worried and Bella nodded. "The doctor said these next two days are going to decide if your dad pulls through or not. Legally they can't put him on any ventilation device since he signed some papers saying he doesn't want that to happen. So it's all up to him, but if I know Charlie he's a strong man."

"Harry, why don't you call Billy? I heard everything and will take Bella up. You probably could use a bathroom break anyway." Sue said holding a cup of coffee looking just as tired as Harry and Bella felt.

"Okay, that sounds like a plan." Harry said and Bella attached herself to Sue so both women could go up to see Charlie. Harry quickly went to the bathroom and then called Billy who had stayed up for the call. Billy told him that after Jacob went to school that he'd find a way up to the Hospital so Harry and Sue could get home to get a few hours of sleep. None of them wanted to leave Bella there by herself, at least not yet.

Later that morning Bella called her school to tell them she wasn't going but the Secretary told her that her friend Mike would be dropping off her school work for the rest of the week. Being that Forks was a small town by dinner yesterday everyone knew that Charlie was in the hospital in critical condition. The principal excused Bella since she had yet to really have a sick day and it was obvious that this wasn't some hoax. Even after school when Mike brought her, her homework, he told her that she had the next few days off from work. She was grateful to all the people at Forks and stayed at the hospital, she was also happy to see Billy wheeling himself in at lunchtime.

Later that day after finishing all her homework out of boredom of sitting there and have nothing better to do, Billy and Harry convinced her to go home and take a shower at least. They also insisted she get an hour or so of sleep, they would call her if anything changed. So she went home took a long hot shower, ate something other than hospital food, and called Madison. Bella had to talk her friend out of coming directly to Forks, but it made Bella smile at the thought of having a friend that was willing to ditch work and school to sit with her at a time like this. Bella also called Renee who told her she was going to be on the earliest flight and will be there as soon as she could. That was what Bella liked about her parents, they may be divorced but they weren't bitter about the whole ordeal like some parents might be. Unfortunately Renee wouldn't be able to be there for at least another two days, but that didn't mean she wasn't coming. Bella then got two hours of solid sleep before she went back to the hospital, this time on her motorcycle. After she reassured Harry, Billy, and Sue that she'd be fine alone they left to get some decent sleep themselves.

It was the second night at the hospital that Bella was shocked awake by a flat beep. She knew it was wrong since the beep had a pulse to it that told her that her father still had a heart beat. Looking at the flat line on the heart monitor she called out for the nurse that was already on her way with the doctor. She watched as the doctor managed to get a weak pulse, and soon there was a flurry of activity as the medical personnel tried to determine what had caused her father's heart to stop. She stood back watching before being gently led away by a kind nurse. A nurse soon came to her and told her that her father was bleeding internally and they had to do exploratory surgery to find the cause.

She sat waiting, with her head in her hands. Suddenly, as much as she hated to admit it, she knew. She knew her father wasn't going to make it this time. She felt it in her gut, in the way the crack of thunder from her dream echoed in her ears. Oddly enough she was at peace with this revelation, her father wouldn't be in pain, he wouldn't have to try to pull his life back together and possibly not be a police officer anymore. As much as she hated it, she knew he was going to die thanks to the dream she had and was glad she had told him she loved him always before she left that morning. She was also glad to know he tried his hardest to be safe like she told him to. She heard from some of the deputies on scene that Charlie did his best to stay under cover but was right in the middle of the line of fire. It didn't help the man responsible had a high powered rifle and armor piercing rounds. In a way she knew he died honorably, he died doing what he loved and he went down fighting. Sure it wasn't something like a vampire fight but he still fought before being taken down. Something inside of her, just like the led ball of anger, something curling around her spine purred in content knowing her father died fighting to protect all the innocent people in the area from the man who was trying to harm them.

On that still Thursday of March 24, 2005, the doctor came in to tell her that Charlie James Swan had passed away on the operating table at four twenty nine in the morning.

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YAY!! *Ducks quickly behind a door* well not "YAY!!" as in me being happy with what exactly is in the chapter, but "YAY!!" as in I'm one more chapter away from the finish line. Trust me, I did not like killing Charlie off after all the time I spent on his character and his relationship with Bella. But there is a reason for this and it will be making itself known in coming chapters. Please don't kill me just yet! You can verbally abuse me though I don't mind, if you feel the need to vent and ask why there is a very simple solution:

REVIEW!!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary**: In the first chapter.

**poorasdirt**: Yes, another chapter and I'm still alive! I still feel sad about Charlie dying especially when I decided to re-read that chapter while listening to Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, now that was just depressing. Ah well, nothing I can do but continue on. Plus, I have over ten reviews! YAY!! I'd like to thank all the readers who have reviewed, or favorited, or alerted this story. My sis also likes how it's going so far, yes you've all finally caught up with her in the plot scheme. Although she may have a bit more insight because she has the ability to bug me about what I might put into this, she has to wait patiently like the rest of you. Right, probably should let you get to it then.

**Disclaimer**: OCs and plot line belong to meh, otherwise everything else is other peoples.

**ENJOY!!**

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She couldn't remember much from the point of being informed that her father had died to being on the road that early morning. What she did know was she had to slow down because she was going at least twenty miles over the speed limit. So easing a bit on the throttle she soon realized where she was going and sighed. Instead of zooming off towards Port Angeles to talk to Madison she changed her course back towards La Push. Again everything blurred until she got off her bike in front of Billy's house and went up to the door, leaving her helmet on her bike. She stood there looking at the door for a while trying to decide if she should knock or not. Instead she examined the grain of the painted wood of the door for what seemed like seconds before the door abruptly swung away from her. In its place was a chest, the chest belonged to someone of the male persuasion, broad, defined, and clothed in a t-shirt. Narrowing her eyes at it for taking away her object of observation she looked up at the owner of the offending body part. She was surprised to see Jacob standing there; she was also surprised to see Jacob standing there with short hair. She idly wondered when he cut it while he was blinking down at her in surprise.

"Is Billy here?" She asked softly, loud enough to be heard but soft enough that it may have been a whisper, she wasn't sure.

"Uh yea, why are you here Bella?" He asked his eyes showing concern. She knew she probably looked almost like a zombie. She hadn't had much sleep in the past two days, barely ate so she felt weak, and she didn't bother to run a comb through her hair even after she showered. She really hadn't changed her clothes in three days either.

"Can I speak to him?" She asked ignoring his question, not knowing how much longer she could hold everything together. She nearly lost it while getting here, she knew, she saw how the road blurred curiously as she neared the reservation.

"Sure, come in." Jacob said moving out of the way to let Bella in. He was supposed to be going to school but he was too concerned for Bella to let that to happen now. Bella looked like someone shook her up, set her on a week's walk, and then told her Edward had died. Not that Jacob had any objection to the last one but still, he didn't like to see her in pain, physical or emotional.

"Bella? What's the matter?" Billy asked instantly when he saw Bella walk in. "How long have you been standing out there?" Billy then asked and she seemed mildly amused.

"Haven't the faintest idea really, but do you know you have thirty seven knots in your door?" She asked with a mild humor that wasn't all the way there. For Billy it just confirmed that his niece in everything but blood had stood outside his door for a while. Billy didn't doubt she would still be standing out there hadn't Jacob had to open it to go to school.

"Never counted, so what brings you here?" Billy asked again hoping it wasn't what he thought it was. However Bella stood up straight and set her jaw almost in a rebellious stance, what she was rebelling against nether of the two males knew.

"Dad died at four twenty nine this morning." Bella said coldly and in an impersonal voice like she was stating the weather. "They missed some of the internal bleeding; he died on the operation table." She informed them still in the same tone before letting out a sigh and seeming to gain ten more years than she had physically. "Can I cry now?" She asked the impersonal stance melting leaving behind an almost sobbing young woman who looked ready to fall over at any minute. Not waiting for an answer to her question she fell to her knees suddenly with heart wrenching powerful sobs that shook her whole body. As if that triggered something Jacob dropped his backpack and rushed over to Bella, gathering her up in his arms he brought her over to the couch were he sat down. Not caring that she was angry with him, Bella latched herself onto Jacob sobbing into his chest. She was wrong, the pain of Edward leaving was nothing compared to the pain of losing her dad. However underneath that pain anger was building on top of the heavy led like ball of anger she already had in her stomach. She couldn't say what exactly was the cause of the anger but it was there and she accepted it along with the pain.

"Dad?" Jacob asked as Billy shut the door and went towards the phone.

"Just sit with her; I have to make a few phone calls." Billy said getting a nod from Jacob who held onto Bella gently but securely to let her know he was there. Quickly Billy called to confirm that Charlie had indeed passed away, once he knew what Bella said was true he called Harry's place. Sue was over almost instantly relieving Jacob of his sobbing bundle. "Jacob I called your school telling them you'll be a bit late. I suggest getting there now."

"But dad, what's going on?" Jacob asked confused.

"Not now Jacob, just go to school." Billy said and Jacob looked rebellious. "Don't make me call Sam." He said calmly and that got Jacob moving. Jacob left reluctantly and had to do a double take when he saw the black Harley in his driveway, before he went to school.

That day while Jacob was at school Bella cried out all her pain, she was happy to be around Billy and Sue who did their best to be supportive. Harry was informed but couldn't make it because he still had work; however he was planning on going to Billy's right afterwards to check on Bella. Bella alternated between sobbing uncontrollably to sleeping for a few hours before she had enough power to call Renee to tell her that Charlie was dead. After that she called Madison who promised to be over tomorrow and wasn't going to change her mind on the matter. Bella was happy she had such a good friend in Madison; really it was what she needed at the moment. After the conversation with Madison Bella wasn't happy but she was at least not going to break out into sobs randomly. Now all the three adults had to do was to get her to eat.

"Come on Bella, you haven't had a decent meal in nearly three days." Sue coaxed as they heard the door open and close.

"Dad I'm home." Jacob called from the living room.

"In here." Billy said as they tried once more to get Bella to eat something.

"Dad, can we talk?" Jacob asked looking at the other two adults and Bella in his kitchen.

"Sure." Billy said knowing Jacob wanted to find out what was going on. He wheeled himself out of the kitchen to Harry threatening Bella that they'd call Madison if she didn't eat anything. Surprisingly enough like threatening Jacob with calling Sam, it got Bella to start eating.

"What's all this about?" Jacob asked looking concerned in the direction of the kitchen.

"I figure you'd be out of the loop, what with you avoiding Bella and all." Billy said a note of disapproval in his voice at that.

"I can't help it that Sam wants me to avoid her since well you know." Jacob said with a frustrated sigh. He didn't like avoiding Bella but he couldn't tell her that he was a werewolf either. It was just hard and complicated, and he wanted things back the way they were before he phased.

"I know, I don't like it much either. Now remember when I told you yesterday about Charlie being in the hospital because of that shooting up at the camp grounds?" Billy asked getting a nod from Jacob who was frowning. The pack hadn't been up at the campgrounds but they knew a lot about the incident. "Charlie was pretty bad off; he had nearly four potentially lethal wounds from bullets. They managed to stabilize him for a day but he passed away this morning." Billy said and wasn't surprised to see how devastated Jacob looked.

"Okay and the Harley out front?" Jacob asked trying to distract himself from the bad news.

"That's Bella's; can you put it back in that garage of yours? It's going to rain tonight and I know she won't be in any condition to ride home at this rate." Billy said getting a dumbfounded look from Jacob.

"When did she get a bike? I thought Charlie didn't want her to own one." Jacob asked confused.

"She got it three months back and fixed it up with Charlie's help. It helped her get out of her depression about the Cullens leaving. If you were around more often you'd know she and Charlie liked to go riding together, they even stopped by here sometimes." Billy said getting a sheepish look from Jacob.

"Charlie rode too?" Jacob asked trying to focus on this new information.

"Yea, it was one of the things he liked more than sports, fishing, and Renee Higgenbotham before he was out of school. After the divorce he didn't ride as much as he used to and his bike sat in his storage room collecting dust." Billy said with a smile. "I was surprised to see him riding on it again actually."

"Alright I'll put it in the garage, but I have to go to Sam's." Jacob said with a frown wanting to stay here and help his childhood friend and crush.

"I know; tell him that Bella is going to be staying until Renee get's here would you. I don't think I'd trust her alone in a house at this point anyway." Billy said before going back to see how Bella was doing. Jacob stood there for a few moments wondering if he could brush off Sam but eventually went to put the bike away. After he was sure the bike would be safe inside the garage, he took a few moments to admire it, and he left to Sam's house. Jacob also idly wondered about how Bella seemed so close to Billy, Harry, and Sue before realizing he did in fact miss a lot by ignoring her.

The next morning Jacob was awake at five in the morning on the dot thanks to someone pounding on the front door. Groaning he got out of bed and went to answer the door since it was highly unlikely anyone else would be able to get it. He simply put on a pair of shorts and noted he at least would be able to have a decent breakfast before going to school as he walked to the door. As soon as he opened it he blinked a few times at the girl standing on his front porch. He took in her nearly white blonde hair, husky blue eyes, and ivory skin carefully as he registered she was wearing a light blue spaghetti strap shirt with a picture of Grumpy Bear on it under a white jacket that ended just past her chest. She also had on a pair of baggy white pants with several metal chains hanging from the legs and crisscrossing in the back, and a pair of silver, light blue, and white shoes on. It took another blink for him to register all the silver jewelry the girl wore and the fact that she had several piercings as well.

"Well, are you going to stop checking me out and move aside already?" Madison snapped at the person blocking her way.

"Um, why exactly would I do that?" Jacob asked still very much half asleep.

"Because I'm here to see Bella, you know because she's my friend?" Madison asked semi-sarcastic. "You do know her dad died yesterday right?"

"Yea, but why are you here at five in the morning?" Jacob asked and Madison looked slightly confused.

"Billy's used to me showing up around five when we all go fishing together." Madison answered and sure enough Billy was wheeling himself out of his room to greet the hyper blonde. "Wait you're that one guy Bell talks about, what's your name again? I know it starts with a J, um, Jason? Johnny? Jeremiah?"

"Jacob." Jacob answered now a bit more awake than when he first answered the door.

"Okay Jackson, just move aside while I go be best friends with my best friend." Madison said attempting to move Jacob out of the way but it wasn't working.

"Morning Madison, I see you made it here in one piece." Billy said with a chuckle at the scene playing out on his front porch.

"Yep and I wasn't caught speeding, now where's Bell and can you remove your Jonson from my path?" Madison asked pointing to Jacob who looked mildly annoyed the blonde kept messing up his name.

"Jacob let her in before she decides to use more drastic methods." Billy said with a smile shaking his head at Bella's friend. On one hand Billy liked Madison for her wisdom and optimistic attitude, on the other he was quite uneasy about her eccentric nature. However, Madison was indeed Bella's best friend and Billy knew that Bella really needed the other girl right now.

"Um, sure dad." Jacob said still unsure about letting this lunatic into his house. Madison rushed past Jacob ignoring the funny look he gave her and stopped in front of Billy.

"Where is she? Is she okay? How has she been taking it? She hasn't done anything overly stupid has she? Is her mother on her way? Has the cops stopped by to talk to her about what's going to happen? Did they catch the guy responsible? She hasn't been riding her bike in this state has she? Did she eat anything? Did she have any nightmares? Has she been eating? Where is she?" Madison rattled off rather quickly bouncing on her heels in concern.

"She's not exactly okay but she's probably cried all that she's going to. She hasn't done anything stupid that I'm aware of; she did ride her bike here from the hospital though. The cops haven't stopped by yet; everyone is waiting for Renee to get here to help with the funeral arrangements. Yes she's eaten and yes they caught the guy responsible. I don't know about if she has had any nightmares or not, but you can ask her. She's in the room down the hall second door on your left." Billy said and as soon as he was finished Madison was off, her braid swishing behind her and nearly whipping Jacob in the chest.

"Um, dad, who exactly was that?" Jacob asked still uncertain as he heard the door open and close.

"That was just Bella's friend Madison. They've gotten really close ever since the beginning of January." Billy said casually already having been exposed to Madison a few times before.

"Okay." Jacob said still a bit stunned.

Meanwhile Bella woke up feeling the bed shift next to her. She let her eyes focus a bit before she saw a concerned and sadden Madison float into her line of vision. "Hey." Madison said softly and Bella smiled sadly.

"Hey." Bella responded before she scooted closer and wrapped her arms around her friend happy the other girl was there. Madison shifted a bit so Bella's head rested on her shoulder before the blonde wrapped her arms around the brunette comfortingly. No words were spoken for some time as the two girls simply held and comforted each other without making a sound. Bella knew for a fact that Madison really did like Charlie, since Madison's own father was a businessman that was never really home. Madison once told Bella that she collected father figures and Charlie became the sort of father Madison looked up to, much like her coworker Phil's father was. Charlie and Madison also had a good friendship since both connected over sports and all the time Madison spent at Bella's house over the weekends. Madison on the other hand knew how close Bella had gotten to her father after her bad break up in September. It was hard to imagine they had only been friends for just three months but in a way they were more like sisters now.

"I heard your mom was coming soon." Madison said softly after a while of the two of them not moving.

"Hm, yea, she's supposed to arrive sometime today." Bella said with a sigh.

"How've you been sleeping?" Madison asked seeing the slowly grown dark circles under her friend's eyes.

"Not very well, just an hour or two every now and then." Bella answered with a frown.

"Try and get some sleep then, I'm not going anywhere." Madison said and Bella made a small agreeing noise.

"Wait, don't you have school today, and work?" Bella asked looking up at her friend who just smiled slightly.

"It's Friday so I called the school saying I had a family emergency and used one of my sick days for work." Madison said with the slightest of shrugs. "Next week is Easter Vacation so I have from now till the fifth off."

"Oh, right, forgot about spring vacation." Bella said with a sigh resting her head back on her friend's shoulder.

"Probably because you haven't slept a solid eight hours for the past three or so days, like I said, I'm not going anywhere. So get some rest and if you start having a nightmare or something I'll wake you up." Madison said even though she hadn't really had a good night's rest last night either. She had found it hard to get to sleep last night knowing her friend was probably borderline depressed and only had Charlie's friends for support.

"Thanks Mad." Bella muttered before drifting off. A few minutes later when Billy came to check up on the two girls he found them both curled up on the bed fast asleep. Deciding to let them be, he quietly exited and went to go call Sue and Harry to tell them Madison was at his house with Bella.

Around lunch time Bella woke up to find that she somehow ended up sprawled out sideways on the bed and she was using Madison's legs as a pillow. Madison was actually awake and sitting with her back against the headboard, earplugs in her ears and playing with a PSP. Bella just laid there for a few minutes letting the calm of the moment sink in and letting her relax. She knew as soon as Renee got there the two girls would be back at Bella's house and more than likely helping arrange for the funeral. In the past twenty four hours Bella had cried out all her tears and though she was still slightly pained for the loss she didn't think she'd go into depression anytime soon. She loved her father and she would miss him, but she also knew by now that obsessing over the loss wouldn't help. She also knew that he died doing what was right for the community and she was proud of him for that. Deciding the only emotion she had left over the loss of her father was anger; she quickly buried it so she wouldn't lash out at anything or anyone. She'd deal with that anger later, for now she had to gather her strength and tackle the next obstacle which incidentally was her dad's funeral arrangements.

Refocusing on Madison, Bella was amused to see her blonde friend now had her tongue sticking out and a look of determination on her face as she pressed the buttons of her handheld game a little more furiously. Bella also noted Madison had on a jacket that she didn't have on when Bella first saw her and all the missing jewelry was back in place. Looking at one of the more nasty looking spiked cuffs Bella was glad Madison took them off before she got on the bed, they looked dangerous. The only thing missing was Madison's shoes that were probably on the floor, allowing Bella to see the white socks with large light blue snowflakes on them. Deciding to mess with her friend, and the chain beneath her head was becoming uncomfortable, Bella poked Madison in the thigh making the blonde jump. Bella watched in amusement as Madison's face morphed in shock before she began imitating a gold fish.

"Ah…Ah…NO!" Madison said in mock anguish. "I was so close! Why did you die little nonexistent game hero? Why?" Madison nearly sobbed making Bella laugh at her friend's expense. Bella rolled off of Madison's legs, luckily only losing a strand or two of hair to the chains she had been resting on. One more look at Madison's shocked and slightly horrified face though, sent Bella into another fit of laughter. "Oh, you think that's funny huh?" Madison asked taking out the earplugs just now realizing her friend was up and laughing at her.

The next few minutes turned into a pillow/tickle free for all fight. While both were smiling and laughing it was still slightly muted, but Bella figured it was a start. "So want to go see if there's anything to eat?" Bella asked once the two were finally sprawled out catching their breath.

"Yea, we probably should see if your mom is here now." Madison said with a sigh.

"Yea, we probably should." Bella said with only half enthusiasm.

"Are you going to be alright?" Madison asked in concern looking at her friend.

"I think so, I'll be even better if there's a trial and I get to attend." Bella said getting a nod from Madison.

"I'll be there too if there is one. I want to see the bastard get what's coming to him." Madison said making Bella smile at the sincerity of her friend's declaration. "But we can get into that later, first food." Madison said pushing Bella off the bed. Bella muttered a few choice words into the floor as Madison snickered at her expense. Bella returned the favor by tripping Madison when she was jumping off the bed, so the blonde also landed face first on the unforgiving ground with a groan. This time it was Bella who was the one snickering at the other's expense. A few more minutes of struggling to get on their shoes the two made their way to the kitchen, Bella having jumped onto Madison's back before they got out of the door so Madison was the one doing the actual walking. "Dang girl, you're heavy! Ever heard of Weight Watchers?"

"Oh shut up, with all that metal on, you probably weigh twice as much as me." Bella said as Madison nearly tripped and fell into the kitchen, much to the amusement of Billy and Sue. "Hi Uncle Billy, Aunt Sue, what's up?"

"Nothing much Bella, Harry has gone to pick up Renee. Her plane should be touching down soon. How are you two doing?" Sue answered with a smile at the two best friends.

"I'm being crushed under the enormous weight of a certain unnamed friend of mine, but otherwise peachy." Madison answered with a grin that faltered slightly when Bella whacked her on the head.

"I'm fine, but still a bit tired and overwhelmed." Bella answered before jumping off of Madison. The blonde made a show of slowly reaching up and rubbing her head while sending a mock glare in Bella's direction.

"That's understandable; it's nice that you got a few solid hours of rest though." Billy said with a slight smile. It was good to see Bella coming to terms with Charlie's death but at the same time all of them were hit pretty hard because they were all such close friends with the man.

"Anyway we're here to raid your fridge for anything decidedly delectable to eat." Madison said rubbing her hands together and eyeing the fridge hungrily.

"Go ahead you two, just don't create a mess." Billy said and soon two very hungry eighteen year old females descended on the Black Family Fridge without mercy. "So Bella, you're heading to your house now?" Billy asked once the two had their fill.

"Yea, I feel up to it. Besides I still have to gather some things up that we'll need for the funeral and stuff. Also, the answering machine will most likely be overrun with messages by now." Bella said getting a nod from the man.

"Don't worry, I'm going with her." Madison said seeing Sue's next question. "She shall not leave my sight, well unless she goes to the bathroom, until her mom shows up, I promise."

"Thank you Madison, I'll bring some dinner by for you three later. I have a feeling none of you will be in the mood to cook." Sue said though she was unsure she'd let Madison near a stove.

"No need for thanks, it's what friends do." Madison muttered with a shrug.

"We'd appreciate that Aunt Sue. If we need anything I'll call either your house or Uncle Billy." Bella said giving Sue a hug with a half hearted smile on her face.

"You do that, oh, and I asked Jacob to put your bike out in his garage to keep it safe. Just go back there and get it." Billy said also getting a hug from Bella.

"Thanks, I'll call you both soon." Bella said getting nods before both girls headed out. Bella was slightly surprise to see a silver and blue Harley outside but Madison just shrugged it off. After her initial shock wore off Bella went with Madison to get her bike out of Jacob's garage before they both took off for Forks.

The next few days were a flurry of activity, with organizing Charlie's funeral, convincing Renee that Bella should stay in Forks to finish her senior year, convincing Renee that Bella would be fine in Forks and she could go back to Florida and the trial of the man responsible for Charlie's death. Through it all Madison was practically Bella's shadow when they didn't have work or school. Finally two weeks after Charlie died Madison deemed Bella past the suicide period, much to Bella's amusement, and they threw a party to celebrate, which they invited Angela, Ben, Billy, Harry, and Sue to attend. Really, Bella was unsure what she would have done had she not had Madison there to help her through it. As it was, Bella quickly came to terms with her dad's death, though she still got a bit downtrodden when he is mentioned she was sure she was getting out of the grieving stage soon, even if her anger didn't ever get resolved.

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YAY!! Jacob is in the house and utterly confused as to what is going on. Oh well, he didn't stick around to hang out with Bella so it's his loss. Um yea, I still don't know if I potrayed him right but if I didn't I don't particularly care because I'm not a Twilight fan. I am aloud some creative tweaking of characters I only know some basics about. Hence, why I've staid within the supporting role list up until now. I don't know much about the Twilight author chick's writing but I hear the background characters are a bit under developed allowing for me to play all I want without holy retubution from avid fans. Right, hope you liked it even if there wasn't much of a plot development in this chapter since it was more character developing. I will warn y'all that the next two or three chapters are pretty scrunched together and it will be a lot of plot developing in it so be prepared. Until then Chow oh and don't forget to make me happy by, you guessed it:

REIVEW!!....ing


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary**: In the first chapter.

**poorasdirt**: Yep, it's yet another chapter. I don't have much to say since I'm currently focusing on the chapter after this one. Um, well yea, it's nice to know everyone liked how a portrayed Jacob, as well as his conversation with Madison. Since I'm very distracted at the moment I'll simply say thank you to all the people who've reviewed, favorited, or alerted this story. I hope you like what is to come.

**Disclaimer**: There is a time when I wish I own more than the OCs and plotline, it's usually when I look at my bank statement, alas I'm still as poor as dirt.

**ENJOY!!**

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Bella sighed as she sat once again at a funeral. Looking to her left, she saw Madison staring ahead with her eyes crossed and attempting to touch the tip of her nose with her tongue. Bella glanced around before discretely whacking Madison in the back of the head. The blonde had the decency to look sheepish as another speaker left the podium. Though, both girls were there to pay their respects to the family and say goodbye, they were getting bored with the long windedness of the funeral. Deciding that Madison needed a suitable distraction, Bella searched the pockets of her black trench coat before pulling out a stress alien. For some reason Madison was immensely amused that whenever she squeezed the thing its eyes, ears, and antennas popped out.

While Madison was amusing herself with the little stress toy, Bella turned her thoughts inward. The funeral they were attending was Harry Clearwater's, or to Bella Uncle Harry's funeral. Both had been surprised when not long after things settled down from Charlie's funeral, that Harry died unexpectedly of a heart attack. Bella was a bit saddened yes, since Harry was like an uncle she never had, but she wasn't truly that close to the man until the later part of his life. She wasn't going to go bipolar like she did when her dad died but she wasn't all sunshine and rainbows either. If anything Bella and Madison were there as support for Billy and Sue. Both also helped with the funeral arrangements since they weren't too emotional about the loss of their friend and mentor. They were at least quite capable of making sound decisions without bursting into tears every few minutes. Bella also noted that this time around she didn't have to rely solely on her determination to get her through. However, Bella did note she had a growing frustration with all the people involved with the funeral since, aside from Madison, none of them were helping to get it done. Billy helped, but there was only so much he could do, especially with Embry and Jacob goofing off every now and then. Bella knew the two only did that to try and lighten the mood, but it was usually when she was in the middle of something important. Although, she was amused one time when she sent Madison after them, after she gave the blonde a can of Red Bull. Bella couldn't help but imagine two kicked puppies retreating quickly with their tails between their legs as a hyper scolding Madison chased after them.

Speaking of puppies, Bella did a bit more searching about the large wolf she remembered seeing a week before her dad died. She didn't get anything concrete, but with the help of the legends of the Quileute tribe and what Laurent told her, she narrowed down "symptoms". Her instincts told her that Jacob was a shifter, simply because of his attitude before and after he got "Mono". Since her instincts so far haven't let her down, she decided they were probably right about Jacob. She also had a feeling that the Mono that Jacob got wasn't really a disease but a condition of becoming a shifter. If that was the case, she glanced at Leah and Seth who had been ill the day Harry died. She didn't know if it had any connection to Harry dying but her instincts told her that both of them were now shifters. Her instincts also told her that Sam and his crew were shifters as well. Bella didn't know exactly the dynamic of the whole shifter thing, but she was very annoyed that Billy and Jacob didn't tell her about it. If they knew the Cullens were vampires they would definitely know that Bella knew about the supernatural. She figured they were trying to protect her, and that angered her even more.

Feeling a hand on her arm she snapped out of her thoughts and took a deep breath before turning to Madison. "What?" She said lowly since it was still in the middle of the ceremony.

"You're shaking and glaring at the back of Jack's head like you're going to murder him." Madison responded nodding her head at Jacob who was a few rows ahead of them.

"Sorry, and his name is Jacob." Bella said relaxing.

"Oh, I know that. I just love how annoyed he gets when I call him anything but." Madison said with a sly smile. Bella was half exasperated and half amused as she smirked at her friend. Out of the corner of her eye Bella saw Jacob turn and give the two of them a look. Bella wasn't certain what that look meant but when she looked back at him, he whipped back around to face the next speaker. Sending a glare at the Native American teen, Bella soon relaxed and waited for the last of the ceremony to come to a close. Though, Bella was intrigued since the ceremony was based with Native American traditions which made it much different from the police funeral her father had.

Soon the whole congregation made its way to the cemetery as it followed the motorcade. The Quileute cemetery was close to the Forks cemetery, both being a bit outside of both places and landing somewhere in the middle of the two. Since neither Bella nor Madison really wanted to see the graveside ceremony the two went instead to the Forks Cemetery to pay a visit to Charlie's grave. Since it looked like it might rain and it was amazingly windy the two had opted to go in Bella's truck to the funeral. So as the congregation went to the Quileute Cemetery near the edge of the reservation, Bella drove to the Forks Cemetery that was only five minutes away from the Quileute one. It didn't take the two long to get to Charlie's gravesite either.

"Hey Uncle Charlie! Mad and Bell here." Madison greeted once they walked up. "We just stopped by because as you probably already know, Harry died of a heart attack. We didn't want to stand around for the gravesite ceremony but don't worry, we'll head over there to pay our last respects sometime."

"Honestly Mad, sometimes I think you want him to respond one of these days." Bella said rolling her eyes even as she had a smile on her face. "But I suppose it doesn't hurt. So nothing much has been happening dad that you probably don't already know about. Mad is still as mad as ever and I've been slowly getting over everything that has happened. We did throw a 'Bella is not going to commit suicide' party nearly a week ago, it was actually quite fun."

"Yea, Bell, Sue, and I even baked a cake from scratch; although, the whole flour thing was all Bell's fault." Madison said pointing to Bella who rolled her eyes.

"If I remember correctly you were the one that knocked the flour over first and insisted on throwing the handful or so that was on the floor at me. I had to retaliate; it's in my contract as your friend." Bella responded with a slight smile.

"Since when do we have a contract?" Madison asked looking confused.

"Since we first started hanging out together, then again it's more like guide lines so I don't lose my sanity to you." Bella responded making Madison pout a bit.

"I wouldn't take your sanity; it would probably be annoyed with you and leave on its own." Madison said getting an unimpressed look from Bella. Bella was slightly disappointed that all Madison did was grin at her like a maniac. "Anyway, now that we are in relatively secluded area with no one listening in or anything, let me ask you a question."

"What is it?" Bella asked as the two stood there. Bella had to admit it was strange seeing Madison wearing black of all things, it made the blonde look even more like a vampire than normal. Bella was also surprised at how nice Madison's clothes were; then again the blonde wore a simple black V-neck shirt with quarter length sleeves, a pair of nice black dress pants, some black satin kitten heels, and a black lace choker. Bella also noted that Madison lacked all over her regular jewelry settling for ten black plastic bracelets and black hoops were her piercings were. Bella also wore black of course; she had on the black trench coat that Madison gave her prior to Charlie's funeral, a black T-shirt with a smoky outline of an angel on it, a pair of black cargo pants, and her black combat boots. Bella also wore her fingerless gloves, her hemp choker, and a black leather bracelet with a dark red tribal design on it.

"Well I know you've been angry lately but why were you trying to murder Jacob with your eyes?" Madison asked with a frown looking serious for once.

"I don't really know, I guess I'm still annoyed with him for his so-called help during the funeral preparation. I also have some left over anger about my dad dying and some anger about Edward, plus all the normal high school drama anger." Bella said looking thoughtful.

"You can stop right there, I get your point. It's just you need to find an out-lit for this anger, it's not good to keep it bottled up." Madison said with a wry grin. "What about poetry?"

"I can't hold a rhyme scheme to save my life let alone come up with actual rhyming words." Bella said dully.

"Okay, can you play an instrument?" Madison asked and Bella shook her head. "Sing?"

"Not if you want to keep your hearing." Bella muttered with a glare.

"How about short stories?" Madison suggested and Bella was about to shoot that one down as well but paused.

"Actually maybe I could do that." Bella said thoughtfully.

"Okay that's a start then, write as many angry short stories as you possibly can. I know that self defense class is helping you out. How's that going by the way?" Madison asked and Bella shrugged.

"I've almost completed it. It was just a basic course after all so it didn't go too in depth in anything." Bella said getting a nod from Madison.

"Well there you go, writing to release all that built up anger and whatever other emotion you may have. Maybe if you get good at it you can write a book." Madison said with a teasing grin.

"I doubt that's going to happen any time soon but thanks." Bella said rolling her eyes at her friend. "They should be closing up the ceremony soon, want to head back over to the church. We still have to help set up for the dinner there."

"Yea, why did we end up on clean up duty anyway?" Madison asked with a pout.

"Because we're nice and we wouldn't want to subject Aunt Sue to that." Bella said with a shrug. "Besides, I'm the one with the truck remember."

"Yea, one of the few people with the car that can help in this situation so we end up doing the dirty work." Madison said as the two made their way back to Bella's truck. Bella just hit Madison over the head gently with a snort making Madison grin at her once again.

The two made it back to the church and went down to the basement. The church on the reservation wasn't very big but in the basement they had a large assembly hall and a relatively decent sized kitchen. Bella and Madison went to work laying out the food that would feed the friends and family of Harry Clearwater. They had been the first ones to arrive back, seeing as their help went with the congregation. However, they weren't alone forever and soon their help arrived. After a small Native American ceremony for the food the two of them quickly got their plates and retreated into the kitchen. They didn't really know anyone aside from Billy, Sue, and Jacob anyway. Plus, Bella was avoiding Jacob at all cost because she was still angry at him, for what she didn't even know, so that meant avoiding Billy for now as well. Sue was currently being swarmed with family and supporters, not something either girl wanted to be in the middle of, so the kitchen became their safe haven until they had to start clean up.

"Um, do you know where the extra meat platter is? We've run out, out there." A woman asked the two who looked up from their game of checkers. Both teens blinked as they took in the woman who was probably only a year or two older than them. Their eyes only rested on her scarred face just a tad bit longer than what was probably polite before they ignored her scars all together.

"Yea, it's in that fridge." Bella said pointing to one of the industrial fridges the church had. "Need some help?"

"No, I've got it. I'm Emily by the way, Sue's cousin." Emily introduced politely knowing these two were there to help with everything.

"I'm Bella and that's Madison." Bella said pointing to Mad who waved happily.

"Just tell us if there's anything you need, we're more than happy to help." Madison said with a smile.

"Thanks, could you also get the extra chili and we've run out of bread rolls in the bread basket." Emily said getting nods as the two girls decided it was best to divide and conquer. "So you wouldn't be Bella Swan would you, Charlie's daughter?"

"Yea, that's me. Madison is my friend from Port Angeles." Bella said as she carried out another bread basket full of bread rolls.

"I'm sorry to hear about your dad. I only met him twice but he was a good man." Emily said in genuine sympathy that made Bella smile slightly.

"He was; I still miss him. But at the same time I'm very proud of him as well. He died doing what was right and all that jazz." Bella said getting a smile from Emily. "Harry was also a good man. I had the pleasure of knowing him through my dad and he really helped me out when dad died. I always liked considering him something of an uncle I never had. Sue's also been like an aunt I never had as well."

"They're both good people, I just hope my cousin will be alright though." Emily said with a sigh.

"I'm sure she will be; she's a strong woman after all. Sure it'll hurt and she'll miss him but life continues on." Bella said getting a nod from Emily as they put down the food and cleared the empty dishes.

"I heard from my fiancé, Sam that you and Jacob used to be good friends." Emily said as well as the two brought the dishes into the kitchen.

"Yea, we were childhood friends. We picked up our friendship again after I moved here, kind of inevitable with our dads being friends. But, a month ago he stopped hanging out with me and we've grown distant again. I kind of miss hanging out with him but I guess he's been hanging out with his friends on the reservation doing guy things and no longer has time for me. He made that blatantly clear when I was helping Sue with the funeral arrangements, he and his friend Embry were underfoot and not helping in the least." Bella said with a wistful smile. "It got to the point I had to sic Madison on them just to get things set up."

"I'm sure that was a sight to see." Emily said looking over to the slim blonde that was about Bella's height. Emily knew just how big those two boys were and would have been amused to see them running from the blonde. "But you've had a tough few months, how do you keep it all together?"

"I just take one day at a time now, plus having my friends around has helped." Bella said as they started to change out the vegetable platter and a lasagna dish. "Madison has made it her job to keep me entertained at least. Anyway, you said your fiancé is Sam? As in Sam Uley?"

"That's the one." Emily said with a smile. "I admit he's a bit rough around the edges but he's just a softy at heart."

"I can't say I agree with you, but I know he helped me out a time or two, so he must be a good man. I know at least if I ever end up in trouble in the forest he'll probably be the one to save me. He seems to really like the woods. Does he work for Fish and Game or something along those lines?" Bella asked curiously having already figured he was one of the Quileute wolves; simply because he's been the one that always seems to help her when she was in trouble in the forest.

"Oh no, nothing like that, he just seems to love the woods and surrounding wildlife. I swear if hiking was a job he'd be a millionaire." Emily said with a smile.

"Ah, the outdoors type that likes hiking, hunting, and all of that." Bella said getting a nod from Emily. The two continued to make some small talk before Emily went back to sit with Sam and his groupies.

"Charming woman, don't you think?" Madison asked as the two went back to their game.

"She was looking for information." Bella said with a shrug.

"How do you know?"Madison asked curiously.

"My instincts told me, call it woman's intuition." Bella said getting a giggle and nod from Madison. The rest of the dinner was uneventful if you consider Madison winning five games of checkers to Bella's two wins. As everyone began to leave, the two got busy starting to clean up, packing away food for people to take with them and getting the non-throw away plates back to their owners. It wasn't long before the only ones really cleaning up were Sue, Madison, Bella, and two other Quileute women who staid to help.

"How are you doing Sue?" Madison asked as they picked up the trash left on the tables.

"I'm doing somewhat better than when I first found out. It just happened so sudden I don't think I'm over my shock just yet." Sue answered with a smile.

"Well if you ever need someone to vent to that isn't family, you can call either Mad or me up." Bella said getting an agreeing nod from Madison.

"Thank you, both of you; I don't think I could have gotten through this without your help." Sue said with sincerity.

"I don't know about that, it would have been difficult sure but you'd have pulled it off." Madison said a little uncomfortable with the gratitude but accepting all the same.

"Yea, I'm sure you could have pulled it off without our help. We just made it easier and let you have your time to grieve, besides you were a big help with dad's funeral so this wasn't anything too big." Bella said getting a smile from Sue.

"Do you think you can make it home alright?" Madison asked glancing at the clock; it was getting pretty late now.

"Billy has Jacob coming to pick me up soon. He knew I wanted to stay later to help you clean up." Sue said and the five women got to work setting everything back in order. They got a good laugh when Bella toppled under the combined weight of three full garbage bags that made her end up sitting on the floor. They also were entertained when Madison started to use the broom as a microphone and lipped synced to Elvis on the radio. The two tried to keep it a bit on the light side as they cleaned up and before long Jacob showed up to pick up Sue. Jacob looked like he wanted to talk to Bella but she was busy stacking chairs and only said farewell to Sue over her shoulder. Bella also promised to call Sue in a day or two to check up on her, which amused the older woman to no end.

"And we are officially done!" Madison exclaimed as she stretched, having whipped down and helped put away the last table. "It's late."

"Yea, I can't believe it's already ten at night." Bella said looking at the clock. "Come on; let's get back to my house."

"Okay." Madison said with a smile as the two left. Since it was Friday Madison was going to stay the weekend at Bella's. Madison had mentioned something about her cousin and his friends visiting for a while and not wanting to be in a crowded house over the weekend. "Think we can catch a movie or something when we get there."

"I don't know we'll have to see what's on. Personally I just want a shower and sleep at this point. It's been a long day." Bella responded as they made their way out of the church and towards Bella's truck.

"You can say that again." Madison said with a yawn. Soon both climbed into the truck and were on their way back to Forks.

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YAY!! If you're wondering I'm trying to keep this as close to what I know about New Moon as possible, not so much what Bella goes through but what goes on at the reservation. Hense the death of Harry so Leah and Seth are now wolves as well, or I thinks that's how it worked. Ah well, as you can see Bella has met another character mildstone, she has a brain that's working rather well. Anyway, sort of can't wait to post the next chapter but I'll hold off until tomorrow, so until then:

REVIEW!!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary**: In the first chapter.

**poorasdirt**: Um....Yea, oh I just noticed I have over fifteen reviews, YAY! My sis is looking over my shoulder telling me to upload this so I will at her command. Aparently I'm not a puppy so I'll go with her peer pressuring me into this. Oh and happy b-day to , I hope this is a good belated birthday presant and my aunt turned 58 yesterday too, yay her. Sorry, my sis watches the Suite Life of Zack and Cody and I got London stuck in my head, she annoys me greatly. Thanks to all those that have reviewed, favorited, and alerted this story again. Yea, now I'm just stalling so I don't have to post this but I will anyway.

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything other than the OCs and the plot line.

**ENJOY!!**

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Bella glanced at Madison's sleeping form out of the corner of her eye. She couldn't help but roll her eyes in exasperation, the two were on their way back to Bella's house after Harry's funeral and Madison ended up falling asleep not long after they started off from the church. Madison had been talking about a new gothic type of movie she wanted to see when she suddenly dozed off mid-sentence. Now it was quiet except for the radio that was currently playing I Can by Nas. While Bella really didn't like rap she liked this song, she figured it was the background music or the inspirational message.

As she listened to the music she focused on the road, but she was also caught in her thoughts. She was still very concerned about her bottled up anger. She knew she would try Madison's suggestion of writing short stories to help deal with her bottled up emotions, but she didn't know if it would help. She figured if she was out of school it would help as well. It was nearing the end of April and then she only had to get through May and some of June before she graduated. It wasn't that long really and she figured she could put up with the still sympathetic looks and whispering about her dad until then. She just hoped she wouldn't snap and attack someone because they annoyed her. At this point the only person at Forks High School that didn't annoy her was Angela, and oddly enough to a small extent Lauren.

Bella had noticed a change in Lauren ever since Bella broke Jessica's nose. The popular girl was more polite around Bella and was a bit more down to earth. Bella knew Lauren wasn't a drastically changed person but she showed just a bit more maturity. Bella wish she could say the same about Jessica, the stuck-up prep may have not told anyone who broke her nose, but Jessica hadn't stopped once in trying to cause Bella humiliation or grief. All of Jessica's attempts however made the girl look utterly stupid or just annoyed Bella. Most of the population of Forks High gave Bella space these days; she had become the rough tomboy rebel that seemed to only tolerate authority. It didn't help that people kept spreading untrue rumors about how many fights Bella has gotten into or how many times she skipped school. She nearly broke one boy's nose for asking her if she could get him some pot. She was not a druggy and she probably never would be. Although if her life continued like it was, she probably would be driven to drinking or smoking at the very least.

As the song changed to Dear Mama by Tupac, Bella thought back to how she got to this stage of her life where she was contemplating alcohol and cigarettes as stress relievers. She figured her life went to the dogs the morning of her eighteenth birthday. She should have paid more attention to the dream she had about an old her and Edward in the sun. However, she didn't because at the time it seemed to be simply a dream. After that, it was the whole birthday fiasco and nearly getting attacked by Jasper. She had forgiven the vampire since he really couldn't help it, but that didn't mean she wasn't somewhat annoyed with him. The Cullen family left leaving her without answers, not to mention the way Edward ended their glorious relationship. Now that was probably the main source of her anger problems, but without anything related to Edward around for her to get angry at she was at a loss on how to deal with the anger. Deciding not to dwell on it, she thought about the near three months of zombie Bella and had to let out a silent exasperated sigh. She was angry with herself for those months lost when she could have been piecing herself back together after the break up. She could barely remember what she even did during those months which left her feeling a bit uneasy as well. Then that dream, which helped push her out of her depression enough for her to take action. After that it was meeting Madison, something she would never regret, hanging out with Jacob, losing Jacob's friendship, getting close to her dad, losing her dad, getting close to Harry, and now losing him. She was beginning to see a disturbing pattern that she didn't like. Glancing at Madison, Bella promised that no matter what she would try not to lose the one friend that had helped her ever since she got out of her depression. Oh, she was still friends with Sue and Billy but both were now parents of shifters and Bella was unsure about the Quileute wolves. It wasn't that she was angry that they obviously hunted vampires; it was the fact that Jacob abandoned her for them. Instead of being her friend still and trying to ease their friendship into a distant one, he simply cut her off like she was nothing. It was eerily similar to how Edward broke up with her and while she didn't love Jacob in that way she did feel hurt by him.

Bella sighed wishing her life was simpler. What happened to the good old days when true love meant something and best friends were friends for life? Bella quickly decided her fairytale view of the world was happily and satisfyingly shattered like cheap china. She didn't want to be the main female character in some twisted teenage vampire love novel, where the heroine always gets the vampire lover of her dreams, turns into a vampire herself, and after a few trials lives happily ever after with her mate's coven. Pausing in her mental triad, Bella made a note to consider that as a topic for her first short story, it sounded cheesy enough and she probably get a few laughs out of it; she could also throw in a jealous werewolf vying for the fair maiden's attention after she soothes his savage inner beast or something along those lines. Oh she could see it now, the main character is a modern day girl that goes to live with her father in some dreary town near a Native American reservation, she goes to High School and meets a family of amazingly beautiful but mysterious popular kids, all adopted by an upstanding family. Then her heroine will catch the interest of the only single member of the children, be saved from a near death experience and fall madly in love with him, only to find out he's a vampire. Bella decided that the vampires in her story would be a bit more Dracula risqué since she didn't want any real vampires after her for exposing them. Add in the danger of another vampire after the girl to kill her, Bella couldn't help but smile as she thought of what a story that would make, since she technically lived through it. For kicks she would call it Twilight since it was the beginning of the night and a perfect way to begin a vampire romance.

Shaking herself from her story idea she turned her thoughts back to the subject she had been thinking about before. She was aware that for most of the time she was with Edward it was like some fairytale, but once Edward left she was once again in reality. In fact she was in a reality she didn't really understand fully, what with mutants and shifters about. Her world shifted when she became a living zombie and she didn't like that one bit. In fact the world being pulled from under her made her rather annoyed, adding fuel to the lead weight in her stomach that she associated with anger. Now she thought about it, the weight had already passed anger and was well into rage at this point. She honestly could say she was now a bit frightened about the inner rage she possessed. While most would call it strength, Bella felt like nowadays she was holding onto an angry wild tiger on a short leash wanting to burst forth and kill anything in its path. She wouldn't consider that strength but uncontrollable aggression, something she was now slowly losing her hold on. She just hoped when it came forth in all its glory it didn't target one of the few people in this world she actually cared about.

Coming out of her thoughts she noticed something in the deserted road ahead. Narrowing her eyes she realized the thing was actually standing nearly as tall as the hood of her truck, so she began to slow down. She didn't want to hit a deer or a fallen tree branch, but as she got close she noticed it had a distinctly human shape. Slowly she stopped her truck and was slightly surprised to see a woman standing in the road directly in the flooding light of her truck's headlights. It took a few blinks for Bella to register details about the woman but when she did her mind went blank. Standing in front of her truck with an evil smirk on her face was the vampire Victoria.

Bella started into those red eyes for what seemed like hours but it was perhaps a few seconds. She was still so stunned that she was barely aware that her instincts decided to take control. Faintly she was aware that Madison was still asleep in the truck and since talking to Laurent helped buy time, Bella hoped it would work in this instance as well. Go figure, the one time she really needed Jacob or Edward they weren't there and it was up to Bella to get through this by herself. So slowly she exited the truck and moved to see what the vampire wanted.

"Victoria." Bella said simply looking the vampire over noting Victoria hadn't changed much since the last time Bella saw her.

"Bella." Victoria returned with a sadistic smirk. "You are a very hard person to get close to."

"I wouldn't say that, it's not like I'm under any divine protection or anything." Bella said with a roll of her eyes.

"True but those wolves are rather protective none the less." Victoria said with a grin. "Too bad for you they're all at their little den at the moment and have no idea you and I are here. I've waited a while for this, ever since your mate Edward killed my James in fact. I'm going to love seeing the look on his face when he finds out what I've done to you. Don't worry about your friend there, I'll be nice and make her death quick, or maybe even turn her so she can tell Edward all about your last moments." Victoria said her eyes turning to the sleeping form of Madison who was still in the truck.

Bella waited for fear to come and to start freaking out but it never happened. In fact Bella was rather numb from Victoria's declaration. All that was running her head was the fact that Victoria wanted to use her to get back at Edward and was going to hurt Madison as well. Suddenly the lead weight seemed to unfold in her stomach, causing hot fire to slide through Bella like magma was flowing just under her skin. She closed her eyes and looked down as her hands clenched into fists. Bella was also surprised when she felt the scar she got from James start to burn like she dumped acid onto it. Everything seemed to burn and she shook with anger.

"So that's it, you're going to use me because your pissed off Edward killed your boyfriend. It doesn't matter that Edward left and wants nothing to do with me, you just want to say that you got your petty revenge." Bella hissed as she fought for control but was slowly sinking into her rage. It felt like sinking into rubbing alcohol after being in a blender, it really stung badly at first but soon the pain was gone as if she had suddenly became numb.

"It's really his fault he left you alone and unprotected. If he loved you like he says he did, he would have taken better care of you. I know my James would have never left me if it meant leaving me vulnerable." Victoria said still grinning at Bella. "But you, your wolf isn't here and you're all alone without any protection. He made this too easy, and now I'm going to do what I've wanted ever since my James died."

Bella felt like the world slowed down, where seconds felt like years. Her body suddenly ached. Her only thoughts were to protect Madison and to teach this wench a lesson. Everything suddenly felt stilled and Bella could just see the metaphorical tiger that was her anger finally broke from its chain. She watched as if in slow motion Victoria started to charge at her. Suddenly pain erupted everywhere on her body before the whole world went black.

Bella felt the world slowly coming back into focus, first came the sensation of touch, then smell, sound, taste, and then she was suddenly aware of everything around her. She knew she was lying in a bed, from what she could pull from her memory it was her bed at her house. There was someone in the room with her, and she had her eyes closed. Knowing just opening her eyes would blind her; she slowly let her eyes drift open. It took a few seconds but soon she felt her eyes slowly adjusting to the light in her room.

Once they were adjusted Bella looked at the person leaning over her. It was a woman a few years older than she was, with gentle warm dark oceanic blue eyes. She also had a nice tan, her black hair was pulled up in a French twist, and she had a few bangs falling onto her forehead. She wore a brown turtleneck sweater with the sleeves pushed up to her elbows and a pair of form fitting blue jeans from what Bella could tell. She also had very little jewelry or make-up on.

"I see you're awake, how are you feeling?" The woman asked with a soft warm smile. Now that she mentioned it, Bella felt rather stiff and sore. Like she ran a triathlon and pushed herself to finish first. Bella tried to move her fingers but all it did was make the stiffness and slight throbbing pain worse.

"Like I got hit with a car." Bella muttered closing her eyes with a sigh. "The light hurts my eyes too."

"They would be a bit light sensitive yes." The woman said with a smile in her voice. "Do you know what happened to you?"

"Not really, I just felt a lot of pain and blacked out. Who are you anyway?" Bella asked as she felt a gentle touch probe her arm.

"My name is Amanda Mathews but just call me Andy, everyone else does." Amanda said softly. "I'm going to say something at a normal level, tell me if it hurts your ears."

"Okay." Bella said wondering what Amanda meant.

"How does this sound?" Amanda asked curiously but Bella instantly covered her ears with a hiss and tried to wiggle away from Amanda.

"Hell, that's loud, what the shit?" Bella asked still covering her ears.

"I see, you're hearing is enhanced as well." Amanda said making a note on what seemed to be a clipboard.

"What was that and what do you mean enhanced as well? What the hell happened to me?" Bella demanded hiding under her pillow because her body didn't like moving too much.

"Please calm down and I'll explain." Amanda said and Bella groaned before coming out of her hiding spot to look at Amanda again. "For one, the only light in here is that lamp over there." Amanda said indicating a lamp on Bella's desk that was turned on. "It's four in the morning on Sunday; I came to check how you've been doing. Madison called my boyfriend and I to check up on you rather frantically on Friday night and you've been asleep ever since. She wouldn't tell us all the details but she did give us enough information as to what was going on. You see Bella you're a mutant, just like I am; only you activated your powers two days ago."

"I'm a what?" Bella asked in surprise.

"A mutant." Amanda repeated making Bella blink.

"No I got that, but it didn't sink in. What I meant was how am I a mutant?" Bella asked curiously, she was sure once the shock wore off she'd have time to freak out but for now she needed enough information as she could.

"Well my boyfriend Conrad, who happens to be Madison's cousin, and his friend Felix have run some tests on your blood. The genetic tests have come back positive for the X-gene, the gene that distinguishes mutants from normal humans." Amanda explained getting a nod. "From what Madison told us you activated your mutation on Friday night and passed out because of it. Using that and what I've gathered from the past few physical exams I believe you passed out due to stress, pain, and shock. You see Bella you have a more physical mutation so it's understandable that your body felt the need to shut down until all the changes had taken place."

"Okay, what are these physical mutations?" Bella asked looking down at herself. She still had five fingers, five toes, two arms, two legs; in fact she figured she looked just as she did Friday morning.

"Well for one your senses seemed to have enhanced considerably. You also have rather good night vision as well it seems, just a second and I'll go turn off the lamp." Amanda said before getting up. Bella watched the older woman walk over to the lamp and shut it off, after blinking once Bella was astounded to see the room was still in very good detail. She couldn't tell color but she had no trouble seeing shapes and depth, she also thought it rather cool that everything was bathed in a slightly blue tint. She figured it was because she was seeing everything from the light of the moon outside. "How well can you see?"

"I can see great, can't tell color but I can tell exactly where everything is." Bella said getting a nod from Amanda.

"I think it will take a day or two before you get adjusted to your new eyesight and senses. For now get some rest, I'll be here when you wake up to explain your mutation a bit more to you." Amanda said making Bella suddenly aware just how tired she felt.

"Okay, thank you Andy." Bella muttered before drifting off again.

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YAY!! The question everyone wanted answered is here! Bella is a mutant! Yea this is were it becomes a major crossover I'm sure. Oh well, Victoria got what was coming to her, a pissed off mutant Bella on a rampage. Anyway, don't worry about Madison she's still lurking in the background, probably downstairs in Bella's fridge, a lot of things are to come and I've just finished the next chapter. Alas you will have to wait another day for it to air, sorry. In the mean time you can always:

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	11. Chapter 11

**Summary**: In the first chapter.

**poorasdirt**: And here is yet another chapter. I almost have twenty reviews! YAY! I'm almost done editing the next chapter but I still have to write the one following it. Ah well, I'll get to it, though it's kind of long. Anyway I want to thank all those that have reviewed, favorited, or alerted this story. My sis really likes the way things are going so it's all good. Again this is perhaps not much of a plot development or anything like that but hey, characters need thier time to shine too.

**Disclaimer**: I own the OCs and plotline, everything else has a name already attached to it and I'm just borrowing it to fulfill a non-profit creative writing.

**ENJOY!!**

* * *

When Bella woke up again she noticed that it was daylight out. She hissed at the sunlight that was giving her a headache, when suddenly a pair of sunglasses appeared right in front of her. Taking the offered sunglasses she put them on before looking up. Sitting in the chair Amanda had been in the last time Bella was a wake was a young man that was probably around Amanda's age. The man was rather handsome with short honey blonde hair and startling electric blue eyes. He was dressed in a simple blue polo shirt and some khaki cargo pants, but even then Bella couldn't shake that this man reminded her of Madison for some reason. Bella suddenly decided it was the grin the man was wearing on his face as he looked her over.

"Well Andy was right, you're well enough to get out of bed." The man said in a happy drawl.

"Who are you?" Bella asked curiously making the man perk up a bit.

"I'm Conrad, Conrad Leblanc." Conrad said extending his hand for Bella to shake, which she did.

"You're Mad's cousin aren't you?" Bella said getting a nod.

"That'd be me, and you're Bella Swan, Mad's best friend." Conrad said with a teasing grin making her glare at him. She was beginning to see the family resemblance already. "Tell you what, go take a shower and come down stairs. I'm sure there's a lot you want to talk about that Felix and I can answer for the most part. If not the two of us, Andy and Mad can probably fill in the gaps."

"Okay, I'll be down in a few." Bella said before Conrad stood up and made his way out of the room. Bella pushed down the slight annoyance that these people, aside from Mad, were acting as if they owned her house. Brushing off the anger for now she stiffly got out of bed and gathered up some clothes. Settling on a black Led Zeppelin spaghetti strap shirt and a pair of black form fitting pants with an electric blue strip going up the outer seems of her leg, she made her way to the bathroom. She disregarded the mirror and decided the only way to get the stiffness out of her body was probably a hot shower she quickly got the shower running, and it wasn't long before the soothing heat of the shower was easing the last aches in her muscles. Once out of the shower she quickly dried off and got dressed, when she looked up at the mirror she froze. Staring back at her from the mirror was a young woman with wild brown hair that looked like something a wild woman would have, but she also had sharp piercing golden amber eyes. When the light caught those eyes for a second Bella was surprised to see them glow like a dog's eyes or even a cat's eyes. Remembering that Amanda said that some of her mutation was physical Bella calmed down and looked at her eyes more closely, after a minute she decided that she liked them. She knew her eyesight was much better now than it ever had been but she also got cool eyes too, so she was quite pleased.

Soon she was tackling how she would tame the mane of hair she now had. She brushed it and surprisingly despite it's almost tangled appearance it was soft and had very few if any knots in it at all. In fact her hair easily parted for the brush before once again bouncing into it's now natural array of curls, waves, and straight strands. Finally settling for a quick messy bun she turned to her next task, brushing her teeth. Again she was stunned as she opened her mouth to start brushing, slowly her fingers went up to her canines that seemed to have grown and sharpened when she was asleep. Now she got a good look at them, she noticed her straight teeth were much different than what she remembered. The incisors were much smaller; her molars seemed just as sharp as her canines; however, they were slightly smaller than her canines as well. Checking she made sure her tongue was normal, which it was, before she smiled accepting the strange new teeth she had. They actually looked quite cool like a demon might have them or something. Testing their sharpness Bella pressed the pad of her thumb against one of her canines and was surprised to see blood well up. Licking the blood away she was about to grab a band-aid before she saw the small cut heal right before her eyes in a matter of seconds. Deciding that was cool too, and imagining all the injuries she'd no longer have to go to the doctor to fix due to her klutzy nature, she quickly began to brush her teeth.

Once she was set she left the bathroom and went down stairs, still wearing the sunglasses Conrad gave her. The glasses cut down the glare of the light considerably but Bella hoped she would be rid of them soon. She had to go to school still and the teachers wouldn't like it if she wore them in class. She was also a bit nervous about showing off her teeth; they definitely didn't look human and would raise too many questions. Bella doubted she could pass them off as dentures. As she contemplated this she turned the corner into the kitchen where all the life seemed to be coming from. The scene that greeted her made her smile slightly, Madison was rattling off questions about Bella while climbing up Conrad's back, and Amanda was sitting at the table politely answering them, while another man sat across from Amanda with a slight smile on his face. Bella figured the man was Felix, Conrad's friend if she remembered right.

Felix was possible the same age as Conrad and Amanda but slightly on the short side. He had short stylish chocolate brown hair and amazing aqua green eyes. He was dressed in a light blue silk dress shirt with some black trousers making him seem very sophisticated compared to the more laid back looking Conrad. Bella was startled slightly when Felix looked straight at her. "Good morning Ms. Swan." Felix said making Madison pause before turning to her friend.

"Bell! You're alive and up!" Madison said jumping off her cousin and ran at Bella. A second later both girl's were on the ground, Madison squeezing the life out of Bella. "You had me so worried!"

"Mad, off, I can't breathe." Bella wheezed out trying to push her friend off. Luckily Madison listened and was off of Bella in a second helping the brunette to her feet.

"How are you feeling?" Madison asked in slight concern.

"I'm fine just a little confused as to what's going on." Bella said with a sigh but was glad to have Madison there.

"Sit down Ms. Swan and we will explain." Felix said motioning to an empty chair. "My name is Felix Tanner by the way."

"Pleased to meet you." Bella said sitting down. "Now you were saying something about me being a mutant."

"Yes, I ran some tests on your blood while you were unconscious and with Amanda's assessment it seems that you are indeed a mutant." Conrad said also sitting down. "Your power has manifested in a sort of retractable armor, enhanced senses, near regenerative healing, and some of the obvious cosmetic changes you probably already know about."

"Retractable armor?" Bella asked confused.

"From what I can sense you have a hard diamond like substance under your skin that reminds me of armor plating, Madison said when you activated your mutation it came out of your skin before sinking back in after you passed out. I'm sure that if you flex your muscles you can push it out." Amanda said making Bella looked at her hand and tried just that. She was amazed as she watched golden silver metal plates come out of her skin and turn into an armor glove over her hand. It reminded her of a sharp claw like armor glove from those medieval suits of armor. She also noticed that the areas where the metal didn't cover the skin seemed to harden and sparkling golden silver reminding her of a vampire's skin. It took a minute before Bella figured out how to will the armor away and her hand was normal again.

"With practice you can probably master activating and deactivating your armor, for now it will probably be very instinctual if you are not truly concentrating on it." Felix said getting a nod from Bella.

"Okay, so now that's out of the way, do you know what I can do to cover my eyes and teeth? I still need to go to school and I doubt I can go looking like this. The hair I can explain away as a new style I wanted but not so much the change of eye color or fangs." Bella said knowing a lot needed to sink in.

"Actually Felix is going to work on that. We have to leave soon, we have to go back to Seattle, but he is going to overnight you a pair of dentures that will fit over your teeth to make them seem normal. He also can get you some contacts that will change your eye color back to its original color. He's really good at costume make-up." Conrad said getting a sigh and smile from Bella.

"Thanks." Bella said knowing she would have to call in sick tomorrow since there was no way she was going to go to school or work looking like she did.

"Don't mention it; you're my favorite cousin's best friend. If there's one thing that can take me away from my research it's her needing my help." Conrad said getting a nod from Bella.

"Research?" She asked curiously.

"Conrad here wants to be the one to find the cure for cancer; he works at a research lab in Seattle on that very cause." Amanda said with a fond smile. "He's gotten quite far in his research but it's still a slow process." The five made small talk for another hour or so before the Conrad, Amanda, and Felix had to leave. Madison showed her cousin and his friends to the door before coming back to see Bella still sitting at the table.

"So, you're taking this well." Madison said sitting down across from Bella.

"Yea, I think part of me is still in shock while the other is just like whatever." Bella said with a slight chuckle. "Besides it's like what you said isn't it, I can't help that I'm a mutant and I'm still human with just a little bit of extra."

"True, how are you really feeling?" Madison asked knowing her friend wouldn't tell complete strangers what she was really feeling.

"A little scared but surprisingly very calm, the calmest I've been since I don't even know how long." Bella said sincerely since her underlying rage seemed to have shrunken until it was barely an ember.

"That's good I suppose, at least you're not going to go out on a killing spree or anything." Madison said with a smile.

"Andy said she was a mutant as well, what's her power?" Bella asked curiously wondering if Madison knew.

"Oh she has a bit of empathy, but her main power is she can diagnose and heal physical ailments with her touch." Madison said surprising Bella. "Anything from the common cold to a fatal gunshot wound, she just has to touch someone skin to skin anywhere on their body and a few seconds later they're as good as new."

"Do you know anymore mutants?" Bella asked curiously and Madison nodded.

"Felix is a mutant as well, he has telepathy, meaning he can read and project thoughts, and he has hydro-kinesis, all that means is he can control any form of water with his mind. I watched him one time turn a puddle into a mist cloud and then into an ice sculpture by just looking at it, it was pretty cool." Madison said getting a chuckle from Bella.

"I'm sure it was." Bella said swearing sometimes Madison acted like a five-year-old.

"I'm also a mutant." Madison said thoughtfully looking out the window rather than at Bella.

"You are? Why didn't you tell me?" Bella nearly snapped but kept the bite in her words back. She wasn't angry at Madison, but instead was rather surprised. She figured she needed to work on controlling her anger since it seems to be a reflexive action nowadays. Despite her control she still saw Madison flinch slightly at her tone.

"Well, for one I really didn't know how you would react and well, you really are my best friend. I didn't want you to hate me." Madison said looking down with her shoulders slumped. "It's kind of stupid I know but well, the reason my parents aren't around is because well they wanted a perfect child you know? Not some freak, mom had a lot of trouble just having me and they thought I was their perfect little girl until I turned thirteen. That's when my mutation came and while they didn't publicize it, they didn't stick around me much either. They grew cold and distant and I didn't want that to happen again. I'm already a little screwy and I don't have any friends at school, Phil's okay but he doesn't like mutants so I never told anyone but Conrad." Madison said shifting in her seat uncomfortably. This was a side to the blonde Bella never saw before and mentally the brunette cursed her harsh tone.

"It's alright Mad, I was just a bit surprised." Bella said with a sigh making her friend look up at her curiously. "Seriously, if you had told me that you're really a three headed electric blue puppy that can turn into a human, I wouldn't have cared. You really are one of the only friends I have so I'm not about to push you away because you're an insane genetic anomaly." Bella said with a teasing grin.

"HEY! At least I'm not a zombie of unknown origin." Madison said back with a grin.

"But in all seriousness, what exactly is your mutation?" Bella asked with a grin knowing that nothing was going to change between the two of them. If anything they probably would get closer after this since they were somewhat a like now.

"I can collapse my cell structure into a non-toxic metallic looking liquid and reshape it into any shape I desire." Madison said with a shrug.

"Huh?" Bella asked trying to picture how that would work. Madison giggled before Bella watched in awe as her friend seemed to melt before her eyes. Bella looked under the table to see a puddle of what looked like mercury and then she watched in awe as the puddle seemed to move on its own. "Can you still understand what I'm saying like that?"

"Oh yes, I can pick up sounds and vibrations on the ground, I can also sort of see but it's like having a weird tunnel vision so I can only focus on one thing." The puddle answered rippling a bit like someone dropping a stone into a placid pond.

"Well can you pull yourself together?" Bella asked with an amused grin getting a giggle from Madison who reformed into her normal shape. "Good now, how about something to eat and you can help me with this whole being a new mutant thing. I just put some holes in the table with my, um, I guess you can call them claws." Bella said motioning to the scratch marks on the table she had accidently caused in her shock of seeing her friend melt before her eyes.

"Yea, we probably need you to be able to control that, we don't want you to cause anyone harm by accidently clawing them." Madison said with a grin making Bella roll her eyes. "But first you have to eat something and probably call Sue since it is almost dinner time."

"Now that sounds like a plan." Bella said going towards the fridge as she was suddenly aware of how hungry she was.

After dinner Bella called up Sue to check up on the Quileute woman who was doing a bit better. Once that was done Madison and Bella had a long talk about mutants, mostly Bella wanted to know if the X-gene was hereditary and if so which of her parents gave it to her. Madison didn't know how to solve the "who done it" question but she did know a bit more about the X-gene and how it caused the mutation. In the end as Bella was going to bed she decided that instead of getting angry about the situation she just had to accept it and move on. She also thought back to the conversation Madison and her had about vampires since Madison did see Victoria. In fact Madison had first thought Victoria was a mutant but soon accepted that vampires were real, or they were until Madison could get her hands on some of their venom to send to her cousin. The blonde seemed adamant that the vampires may actually be people inflicted with some kind of mutant strand of disease, and Bella didn't have the will to oppose the blonde on that front.

Fortunately after calling in sick for Monday at both her school and job, she received the package from Felix. The contacts were easy to figure out and after following some instructions she was happy to see that the fake teeth snapped into place easily and hid her new teeth. In fact it just looked like she got her teeth whitened, even if her real teeth seemed to be a pearly white as well. Madison said that during her transformation her old teeth had suddenly fallen out, probably to make room for her new teeth. Suddenly Bella was glad she hadn't been consciously aware of what was going on at the time. Aside from getting her new accessories Monday was spent solely on her new powers. Like Amanda had said by Monday night Bella was more adjusted to her new senses. Things were still a bit loud and smelt funny to her, but at least the light didn't bother her in the least. She figured in a week she could full master her senses since it all seemed instinctual to her now, at least she hoped she did because she didn't want to hear I Love Lucy every night as she was going to bed. She liked her neighbors and all but really, she didn't want to know that much about them.

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YAY!! We get to see what powers Bella has, and we learn a thing or two about Madison. I'm rather surprised in her since my original plan was for her to be something of a humorous background character. Apparently she didn't like the role and has gone above and beyond what I originally attended. Anyway, this is all for now so be nice and:

REVIEW!!


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary**: In the first chapter.

**poorasdirt**: New chapter and I have over twenty reviews! I'm still working on the next chapter but I'm confident it will be up sometime tomorrow. It's a long chapter and considering I'm just getting into it I'll probably dedicate today to working on it. Luckily enough after I clean my kitchen I have nothing else to do today (just so long as my sis doesn't drag me away to watch New Moon, she got it for Easter). Anyway, I would like to thank all those that have reviewed, favorited, or alerted this story. I hope y'all continue enjoying what I've written.

**Disclaimer**: Why am I still writing this thing? We all know I only own the OCs and plotline, it's not like that has changed since yesterday, sort of like the size of my wallet. I'm still as poor as dirt so that should tell people something.

**ENJOY!!**

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The weeks passed relatively normally for Bella despite her new powers. She only nearly lost it once at school; luckily she managed to stuff her hands into her jacket pockets before anyone noticed her claws. Conrad and his friends stopped by a few more times to see how she was, and that's when she found out that she had two other powers as well. For one it seems the whole telepathic blocking thing that she had around Edward, was now enhanced to the point where any telepath couldn't mess with her mind. Felix could neither read nor project thoughts into her head and if she concentrated she could extend her shield to those around her as well. It was a rather freaky but otherwise cool power to have since it meant she had absolute privacy no matter what. The other strange power that manifested was another "physical" power as Amanda called it; Bella found she could manipulate her scent with just a thought. If she wanted to attract someone the person thought she smelt like the greatest thing in the world, if she wanted to hide her scent it would suddenly vanish. Bella thought despite the strangeness of the power, it was a good one to have if she was ever outrunning a bloodhound or vampire. Aside from the two obvious changes Bella also noticed that these days her one major problem was controlling her almost animalistic aggression. She was getting better but there was always that little urge below the surface to attack and kill anything her mind perceived as a threat. Conrad likened this mentality to that of a wild animal and said with a bit more discipline training it should be manageable, so he gave her a book on meditation.

In all she was learning how to control her powers rather well and thanks to Madison was also improving on her fighting ability. Madison was well trained in hand-to-hand combat so the two often sparred when they had nothing better to do. Bella had also started to sort out what to do with everything in her house, she knew it was sad but she didn't have use for a lot of things. If anything she started to sort things into a keep, trash, or donate pile and was almost finished. A lot of sentimental things that her dad owned and family heirlooms she kept but she really didn't need her dad's entire old wardrobe for instance. She kept his favorite shirt and even got it framed with a picture of him wearing it. She always had to smile at the picture since it had Billy and Harry in it as well; she took the picture back in February when the four of them were fishing. It surprised her sometimes how fast time flew and how many life changing things were stuffed into it.

However at the moment as she looked at her dad's photo she could only smile. "Well dad how do I look?" She asked wearing a nice gold dress shirt and a black pencil skirt with some black kitten heels. She had to wear gold or black under her graduation robes, it was mandatory even if she didn't really want to. She was also especially annoyed that it was mandatory for girls to wear a dress or skirt; she really wanted to wear some jeans. However, she had spent the last few weeks waiting for this to happen and she only had a few more hours, but first she had to get to Madison's graduation. Luckily for both girls Madison's graduation was taking place in the morning around eight, while Bella's had to be postponed until five in the evening due to some problems with the scheduling. So dressed for her graduation, but not wearing her gold cap and gown, Bella went to her truck. "MOM! COME ON! WE'RE GOING TO BE LATE!" Bella called to her mom who was hurrying out of the house still putting her earrings in.

"No we aren't, you're just anxious to get there. Don't worry so much about it; we'll be on time I promise!" Renee said happily and somewhat amused that Bella was acting like an impatient child.

"But Mom you only graduate once and Madison is my best friend, I have to be there." Bella said noticing her mom had her cap and gown. "Why are you bringing that?"

"In case we run a bit late and are in a rush to get back. You don't want to forget it and be late." Renee said with a grin. "Trust me, I almost was when I went to High School, talk about social suicide and complete embarrassment."

"Mom, I don't care about social standing, I do care about getting there for Madison's graduation though." Bella said and was pleased when Renee got into the truck.

"Well let's get going." Renee said with a giggle and the two took off to Port Angeles. Renee had been right of course, they did make it there on time and Bella got to try and spot her friend in the sea of green and white. It took a few seconds but Bella eventually spotted her white clad friend making faces at one of the other girls behind her in the line as they walked in. Snickering at her friend who gave a supervising teacher an innocent look after getting slightly scolded, Bella watched as the ceremony began. The weather was nice for the outdoors ceremony. Bella snickered through the valedictorian's speech, the guy may be smart but he had a witty sense of humor too, not to mention Madison had been right about him being a flirt since he kept hitting on his female classmates even now. Bella also clapped along as each person got their diplomas and whatever scholarships they were rewarded. It didn't seem long before the ceremony ended and the class got to disperse.

"Bella! You made it!" Madison exclaimed running up to her friend and hugging her.

"Of course I did, and I still have seven hours before my graduation begins." Bella said getting a grin from Madison.

"HA! I got out of school before you did!" Madison teased while Conrad and Amanda came walking up.

"Watch it squirt, they my revoke your diploma and send you back since you seem to like school so much." Conrad said with a lazy smile.

"Will not, they couldn't wait until I left." Madison said sticking her tongue out at her cousin.

"Where's Felix?" Bella asked curiously looking for the telepathic mutant.

"He had an important meeting at work and couldn't make it. He does send his congratulations though and a present for both of you, but you're going to have to wait until the party at Bella's to open them." Amanda said with a warm smile.

"Awe but Andy, why can't I open mine now?" Madison asked in a whine.

"Because I left them it at the house and I know you want to go with Bella back to Forks. Please tell me you'll take off your cap and gown when you go to her graduation ceremony." Amanda said but Madison grinned maniacally at her.

"We'll see, come on let's get going." Madison said making both Renee and Bella smile at the hyper blonde.

A few hours later Renee sat with Madison as Bella received her diploma. Madison hadn't gotten out of her cap and gown and simply sat in the stands like it was normal. A few of the more school spirited people gave her dirty looks but she just waved happily at them. Bella just rolled her eyes at her friend as she sat in the sea of navy blue and gold with the rest of her class. She wasn't as amused with Eric's speech as she had been with the valedictorian of Madison's class but luckily it wasn't long winded either. Once the closing speeches were given and the class was finally dismissed Bella went straight to her mom and friend.

"Finally, freedom." Bella muttered getting a laugh from Madison who gave her a hug.

"Yea, now we get cake and ice cream and presents for completing our sentences at education penitentiary." Madison said making Bella smile.

"I'm so proud of you Bella." Renee said giving her daughter a hug which was returned. "Now like Madison said, let's go have some cake and ice cream!" Both teens shared a look before laughing as they followed Renee to the Bella's truck.

When they got back to Bella's house Amanda, Conrad, Sue, and Billy were already there and already had everything decorated. The next hour or two was filled with laughter and celebration. The two new graduates got to open congratulation presents from their friends and family. Everyone also got to have cake and ice cream as well, the older attendees also got a good laugh when Madison dropped a piece of cake onto Bella's hair. Madison claimed it was an accident but Bella swore otherwise, it would have turned into a food fight had Sue not stepped in at the last minute. Soon the party winded down, Sue and Billy ended up leaving and not long after them Conrad and Amanda went back to Port Angeles. Not long after the three women finished cleaning Renee decided she had enough excitement and said that she was going to bed.

"Night mom." Bella called with a grin.

"Yea, night Mrs. D." Madison called with an equally wide grin. She really liked Renee actually, when the older woman wasn't being depressed that is.

"Night you two don't stay up too late." Renee said with a smile before ascending the steps.

"Man, talk about an eventful day." Madison said flopping down on the couch after taking off her gown; she still wore her white hat. Bella had to roll her eyes at the image her friend made wearing a nice white sundress and wearing her graduation cap sprawled out on the couch.

"I know what you mean, but I'm glad it's all over now." Bella said with a sigh. "I nearly lost it a few times there at the end."

"How's your control coming along?" Madison asked curiously.

"It's alright; I'm really starting to get a handle on it. I at least know how to block out unwanted sounds and smells now. As for my claws I've gotten used to them, they feel so natural now." Bella said sitting down.

"That's good; I know it took me at least two months to stay in one shape. Whenever I got emotional I would suddenly end up a puddle on the floor." Madison said with a chuckle. "I remember one time when I was in tenth grade and one of the popular girls really hurt my feelings, I ran around the corner to get away and collapsed into a puddle. I guess she was going to go after me to continue to bug me but slipped on me instead. Although I tell you, getting mopped up by a janitor and put into a bucket isn't the most pleasant of things."

"I'm sure it isn't but I wouldn't know." Bella said with a smirk.

"Wench." Madison shot back but with little to no heat behind it.

"Hey Mad; remember when you told me about your parents?" Bella asked getting a nod.

"What about it?" Madison asked curiously.

"Now that we're out of school and all, do you want to move in with me? You practically live here anyway, especially on the weekends so it won't be that different." Bella said with a shrug.

"I'd love to! I was going to look into apartments but if you're offering sure. And thanks to my mutation I don't really have to worry about getting to work late. I can always turn into a bird and fly between places pretty quickly." Madison said happily.

"Then it's settled, in a few days you can move your stuff into the spare room. I've pretty much managed to clean up everything in there." Bella said getting a grin from Madison.

"So any thoughts as to what you want to do now we're out of high school?" Madison asked and Bella looked up at the ceiling with a sigh.

"Well first I probably should work on my new abilities so I can control them better; that should be a priority. I don't have any more ideas, probably work on those short stories, I've already started one but I'm not really happy with it. It was like a long free write but I like the idea, maybe I can map it out and clean it up better. Anyway I also could go with a new laptop, mine is really outdated and slow, I think it's going to crash soon." Bella said thoughtfully as she considered possibly getting a new laptop.

"If you think you need one, I guess. I know you got the money from that life insurance you got from your dad." Madison said dryly, she was one of the very few people that knew Bella got nearly a million dollars from the life insurance policy Charlie left her. Add that to the fact that he practically left Bella everything he owned, Bella wasn't pressed for cash anytime soon. "What about taking on-line classes? I know a bunch of colleges are starting to do that, get your degree on-line and at home sort of thing. You probably could get it through one of the major universities as well, like Harvard or Yale."

"I doubt I'd do that for a blue collar university, maybe for a state college but I hardly doubt places with such prestige would allow some average girl on the street a degree on-line." Bella said with a snort.

"Yet, give it a few years, trust me. If they want to keep their prestige they will have to follow the trend or be shelved as old junk." Madison said with a smirk. "But seriously, when I heard about on-line college courses I thought it was great. I even looked into some local colleges that offered it."

"Why?" Bella asked curiously getting a shrug from Madison.

"I always wanted to save up my money and go on a road trip across the states. You know start here in Washington and head down to California before going across the southern states then go north from Florida up the east coast and head back west to Washington hitting all the other states I missed. After that I was going to go up north to Alaska hang out for a bit before returning to Seattle and then saving up my money for a dream vacation to Hawaii." Madison said getting a surprised look from Bella.

"Wow, that actually sounds kind of fun. I don't know if I'd actually do it but hey, I still can keep my options open." Bella said getting a nod from Madison.

"Well for now let's focus on getting me moved in and working on you controlling your powers. How long is Renee going to be staying here?" Madison asked and Bella shrugged.

"I think she said her flight is going to leave in three days. She wanted me to go with her back to Florida but I convinced her that I wanted to stay here until I sorted out what I wanted to do with my life. She figures I'm going to be here until I decide which college I want to attend before going to live on campus. We already worked out that once I leave, this house is also going to be in her name and she can rent it to whomever to pay the taxes and stuff. It's already all paid off so it's not much of a problem." Bella said getting a nod from Madison.

"That's good, so she takes care of the house and if you ever want to come back to live here you have a place to stay, provided no one is renting at the time." Madison said getting a nod from Bella.

"It was our agreed safety net thing, personally I'm not so sure I'll ever come back here once I leave but you never know." Bella said before Madison yawned.

"Well it's been one hell of a day anyway; I'm going off to bed. We can work out how and when I'm going to be moving in tomorrow." Madison said getting a nod from her friend.

"Yea, bed sounds good right about now. Think we can convince Renee to let us sleep in and not go shopping tomorrow?" Bella asked and Madison raised an eyebrow.

"She's your mother, what do you think?" Madison asked making Bella sigh.

"Well let's get as much sleep as we possibly can before we're dragged to all the designer stores under the sun." Bella said getting a snicker from Madison as the two went their separate ways to get ready to go to bed.

In the end it didn't take Madison and Bella long to move Madison into Bella's house. The blonde didn't own much, just a bed, a desk, a computer, and a dresser, as well as a complete wardrobe. The weeks that followed were rather dull and uneventful. Bella worked on controlling her powers, Madison continued to teach Bella more about fighting, and both girls diligently went to work. Bella ended up getting a new laptop that worked much better than her last one, even though for the life of her she still couldn't quite figure out the new system it ran on. However, compared to the eventful months after Edward Cullen left her, Bella could see were things had finally calmed down to an easy pace. Looking back on those months Bella could say with a certainty that she no longer loved Edward, in fact she probably would barely tolerate being in the same room as him. Also her friendship with Madison had really helped her become a better wiser and more mature woman; even if her anger problems could sometimes get her in minor trouble. So in the calm of everything that had happened Bella turned her attention to her short stories. She found she actually enjoyed writing and with Madison around she never seemed to run out of crazy ideas to try. In all Bella wondered if she really could write a book and if she could how did she go about publishing it. Deciding it was something she should look into she made a mental not to do just that, after she had a book she could publish of course.

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YAY!! As you can see they've settled into thier life, with only a few minor hiccups mentioned. I had originally intended for this to be the end of this fic. Luckily enough for you I felt as if it was incomplete if I left it like this. The next chapter will be the last chapter but never fear, there is a sequel. Due to the fact that I organize things funny and couldn't work my next idea for this fic into the original outline, I created yet another outline depicting what happens next. I will use this other outline to make another fic so look for it on my profile in two or three days. If you want to find it in its catagory I think I'll put it in with the Twilight/Xmen: Evolution crossovers. No offense to the other Xmen movies, cartoons, or comics but I feel that one is the closests represenitive of the state of the Xmen world this Twilight fic is in. I still don't know what I'll name it but it should come to me either later today or tomorrow. Until then:

REVIEW!!


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary**: In the first chapter.

**poorasdirt**: YAY! I managed to finish this chapter! I'll admit since it was so long I kept getting distracted away from it but I got it done. Yea, I contemplated just putting this as a oneshot or not since it can pretty much stand alone but I decided against it. It's sort of the bridge chapter for this fic and the sequel, which I have to start writing soon. It may take me a day or two to put up the sequel since I've been told I'm on cleaning duty. Aparently my aunt is going to come visit on Thursday and my mom wants the house clean for when she gets here. But never fear, I do have everything set up for the sequel to begin, I just have to find the time to write it in chapter form. In the meantime I would like to thank all the people that reivewed, favorited, and/or alerted this story. Despite how much I despise Twilight I admit at the end I really like this fic and had a blast writing it. My sis likes it a lot too and will probably be bugging me to start the sequel in between the time I'm cleaning, so if she's annoying enough you will be seeing the first chapter in no time.

**Disclaimer**: I suppose I'll have to tell you for the thirteenth time that I only own the OCs and plotline. Everything else belongs to other people who are much richer than I am but I thank them for letting me borrow thier material for a non-profit free-write.

**ENJOY!!**

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Bella was currently sitting at her new laptop chewing on a block of wood. A few days ago when Madison and she were sparring the blonde knocked out one of Bella's teeth. Bella found that while her teeth seemed to re-grow quite easily, it still was a pain for them to come back in. Sure she seemed to have an unlimited supply of predator-like teeth shaped knives but she wondered if the pain of those teeth re-growing was worth it. She already discovered that toothache medicine did nothing for her but apparently she could find some relief in chewing things. However, since her jaw could now crush and her teeth cut through bone rather easily, she had to find a good chew toy, hence the block of wood. So happily she gnawed on her new chew toy as she reworked another snag in her outline. She was almost finished with mapping out the story she wanted to write, but before she could start she wanted to know the direction she was going in. So far she was having trouble with the ending, she wasn't exactly a writer to begin with but what started out as a simple short story seemed to evolve into a monster of a project. Deleting a few more things and moving a few more around, she checked her outline again.

"Damn it!" Bella growled pushing away from her desk in frustration. Unfortunately her chair got caught on the throw rug she had in her room and she felt the chair rock backwards. Valiantly she tried to keep her balance and fall forwards, in the end her admiral attempts were for not. She groaned when she got the wind knocked out of her as she landed flat on her back on the floor. Spitting out the pieces of wood that had gotten lodged into her gums during the fall she rolled onto her knees to stand.

"Let me guess, your story isn't cooperating and the world is about to end?" Madison asked leaning against the doorframe of Bella's bedroom door.

"Something like that, it's just the ending doesn't want to work for me." Bella said with a sigh as she stood up and put her chair back in place.

"Ah, trouble in paradise I see, mind if I take a look?" Madison asked walking into the room with a smile.

"Go ahead; I'm going to wash the blood and splinters out of my mouth." Bella muttered pouting at the two pieces of wood that was once her chew toy. She was seriously contemplating just going out and getting a dog chew toy at this rate. She had a teething ring until her fangs cut it open, and she tried ice but her incisors were like small knives simply cutting it up with ease. She was running out of teething options and she didn't like it. She would have tried something metal but it left a funny taste in her mouth that didn't quite go away. A rubber ball had just simply been reduced to small shreds after five minutes. Shaking her head she quickly went to the bathroom and rinsed the blood out of her mouth. Bella checked for any more splinters that may have been pushed out of her gums before deeming herself fully healed. Once she was done she made her way back into her room to find Madison looking at the screen thoughtfully.

"I think in know what your problem is, it's the fact that you've spent too much time on the vampires' appearances and not enough on their personalities. From what I'm getting from your main man, he's quite the manipulator and your leading human lady is horribly under developed. She barely has a personality and is very dependent on anything she obsesses over, in this case the vampire boy she falls into lust with." Madison said after a few minutes of reading all the notes Bella had made.

"Yea, well since this is coming from my experiences prior to meeting you, I can see where that would be a problem. I wasn't exactly the most well rounded person in the world, and I was by no means observant." Bella said lying down on her bed with a huff.

"I don't know; there are a few slight things in here but not much. It would be a good start to maybe a series, but at the moment it's very 'pig to the slaughter house' to me." Madison said tilting her head from one side to the other. "It catches the attention with the whole mysticism but it needs just a bit more depth."

"What are you thinking?" Bella asked wanting an honest opinion.

"Well, it's obvious your vampires are keeping secrets from the girl, how about in your next projected outline you add a bit more to this supernatural world? Perhaps a different perspective and beliefs, also I think if you have her smarten up just slightly it will do wonders. Let's see, you can have her find out a bit more about vampires as well, she may not like what she hears but it will give the reader a bit more insight into the world you're creating." Madison suggested with a shrug. Bella contemplated the suggestions before sighing in exasperation.

"Some days I wonder what the hell I would do if I didn't have you around Mad." Bella said getting a smile from her best friend. "I'm serious; you're like my walking wisdom fountain or something."

"Nah, I just think differently than you do. It's part of my charm." Madison said making Bella roll her eyes at her friend.

"So what are you up here for anyway?" Bella asked curiously.

"Nothing much, I just got back from putting some boxes into storage and decided to see what you're up to. I'm surprised you haven't tried to claw your computer to death with how frustrated you seemed." Madison said with a grin.

"Mad, I have a few anger problems I know that, but I doubt I'd ever get that angry at an inanimate object." Bella said seriously getting a snicker from Madison. Suddenly Bella sat up straight and narrowed her eyes.

"What is it?" Madison asked startled and alert suddenly.

"Something fell downstairs." Bella said with a frown. "I think there's someone here."

"In the house?" Madison asked standing up from the chair.

"Yea." Bella said with a frown. She watched as Madison turned into a silver puddle and actually started to seep through the floorboards. In a matter of seconds Madison was gone, Bella shook her head at her friend. The brunette had to admit Madison's power was dead useful for spying; it also didn't help when Madison decided to attack in the form of hundreds of razor sharp blades. Bella found that out sparring with the blonde once. Madison may seem harmless but she could make her liquid form float and separate into different forms if she concentrated enough. The last time Madison did that, Bella was attacked by two hundred one inch sized ball bearings. If it hadn't been for her armor Bella admitted she would have been in some serious trouble.

As Bella waited for her friend to return; she used her enhanced hearing to listen to the noises downstairs. She couldn't make out much but she swore she heard something like a shaving cream can drop before there was a lot of hissing. Focusing on her enhanced sense of smell she tried to tell if it was a gas leak or not. She did smell something on the air, but it wasn't something she had encountered before and it made her slightly lightheaded. Suddenly a shot of silver liquid came seeping up from the floor boards and formed into a coughing Madison.

"We have to get out of here. There is knock out gas downstairs." Madison choked out as she stood up a little uneasy on her feet. "I don't know who or what's the source but the gas will be up here soon. There's cans of it everywhere down there."

"Come on, let's take the window." Bella said moving to her bedroom window. She just barely put up her shield before something smashed through the window and collided with her shoulder. The impact didn't faze her but the sight of a tranquilizer dart did.

"Well that's bad, come on, this way." Madison said grabbing her friend's arm and they rushed to the room across the hall. However, it seemed whoever was attacking had the place surrounded. As soon as the two girls entered the room Madison got hit in the neck with a tranquilizer dart. It only took a second before she collapsed unconscious on the ground.

"Mad!" Bella called trying to wake her friend but nothing seemed to work. Bella picked up the blonde and looked for a safe exit as more cans of knock out gas entered the house. She tried valiantly to get out but every window seemed to be guarded by a sniper. Her enhance healing helped stave off the effects of the gas but after a while even Bella slowly lost conscious. She made one last mental note to work on her escape technique before her world went black.

When Bella regained consciousness she was lying on an examination table and strapped down. Groaning she tried to escape her bonds but she couldn't seem to find the strength. Looking around she glared through the light above her to see a blank ceiling. She also managed to move her head a bit to find she was in a lab of some sort. She could see a variety of medical equipment on a nearby table and looking at a rather nasty looking saw, she decided she would rather be anywhere else but there at the moment. She also saw a large consol with what looked to be a rather high tech computer.

"I see you're awake, now that is a rather pleasant surprise." Someone said in an almost soft purr that sent cold chills down Bella's spine. It took a second to locate the person and when she did Bella took in the older woman carefully. A pair of cold steel blue eyes stared straight into her amber ones. The woman was probably ten or so years older than Bella was but still had a youthful appearance to her. Bella also noted the woman's long blood red hair that fell freely to her waist. The woman was dressed in a green dress shirt, a pair of brown slacks, and had on a white lab coat.

"Who are you?" Bella managed to slur out slightly distressed on how hard it was to really move and speak. She felt like she had a cold and had just taken some over the counter medicine, it helped sooth her symptoms but made her bubble headed and weak.

"You may call me Dr. G; I am a mutant researcher here at this military base." Dr. G said as she walked purposely over to the trapped brunette. "I must admit when we went to collect Silverpool, we were rather surprised to find she had a friend that was a mutant as well. Her parents were only paid for one mutant of course but you are a marvelous consolation prize." Bella really wanted to bite off the hand that was running down her cheek. "I must admit you're a very beautiful specimen. I haven't seen a mutant quite like you since the X-program. Of course Wolverine and Sabertooth are male and a bit too rugged for my tastes; you on the other hand look so wild and free. It's a shame really that we will have to alter your mind to accept our training. We can't have a perfect weapon that has it in their capacity to question our orders after all."

"Wolverine and Sabertooth?" Bella muttered as she tried to get away from this woman. The brunette decided halfway through Dr. G's speech that the lady was absolutely crazy. It wasn't a funny crazy like Madison either; Dr. G was an honest to god scary crazy like those mad scientists on television.

"You don't know them?" Dr. G asked somewhat incredulously before laughing. "You're related to them and you have no knowledge as to who they are? Now that is rich. So you have no idea that your grandfather James Howlett is a mutant, let alone anything about him. Of course he doesn't go by that name nowadays, he's more commonly referred to as Logan or Wolverine. I've gone over his records extensively ever since yesterday when you came to us and a DNA test done on you pulled up his name. It's all over here on this computer, there's very little about his early history considering he's been around since the civil war but there's a lot after that. It seems he couldn't stay away from wars and the government for long." Dr. G said going over to the computer Bella had spotted and brought something on the screen. It took a bit of uncomfortable shifting before Bella could see the picture of the man called Logan. The brunette swore her heart stopped for a second since there on screen was the man from her Grandmother Isabella's photo; the one that her dad told her was his dad. "He's been in practically every war since the civil war along with his half brother Victor Creed, who is also known under the codename Sabertooth." Dr. G said pulling up another photo of a blond wild man with more cat-like features than Logan's scruffy dog-like ones. "Here at HYDRA we've kept really good records on most known mutants today. It took a bit of searching but we eventually found the link between you and Wolverine through your father. I'm surprised that your father never was a mutant but he did carry the necessary gene if you're a mutant."

Bella decided now would be a good time to try and escape while the woman was distracted. The brunette knew no good would come from sticking around to be experimented on. She also didn't want to know why the crazy doctor seemed so aroused, especially when Bella swore there was lust in the woman's eyes when she was looking the brunette over. Mentally shuttering in disgust Bella worked to ease her claws out and to get out of her restraints. Bella also knew Madison was around the lab somewhere and she was not going to leave the blonde for this psycho to experiment on either. So while Dr. G continued to rattle on about the accomplishments of Wolverine and Sabertooth in some of the wars they were a part of, Bella had managed to get one of her hands free from the metal restraints. She admitted the metal wasn't regular metal since it was difficult for her claws to slice through. Bella had already discovered she could use her claws to cut through titanium like it was butter, so to find a metal that actually provided some resistance to her claws was unique as was it terrifying. Deciding to put her thoughts about her metal restraints to the back of her mind for now she managed to get her other hand free. Checking to make sure Dr. G was suitably distracted with the computer Bella easily cut through the restraint holding her head and feet to the table.

Dr. G didn't know what hit her when Bella used one of the moves Madison showed her to knock the woman out. One minute the scientist was rattling on about some recent speculation as to where Wolverine and Sabertooth where, the next she was collapsing to the floor unconscious. Bella grinned down at the unconscious doctor before turning her attention to the computer. She may not be a computer genius, but she did know how to cut and paste, so she began to copy everything she could onto a UBS drive that was already connected to the consol. As that was working Bella took a good look as to what she was wearing, from the looks of it she could have been a hospital patient or at the very least someone who escaped a mental ward. She sighed and looked around the room for something more suitable to wear. She was just glad she didn't have anything important in her clothes when she was abducted, so there was a chance the people didn't get her wallet and such. She at least hoped they didn't stick around long after the whole knock out gas thing; the last thing she wanted was for them to cause a scene at her house. As she winced wondering how much damage her poor house sustained, she spotted a closet on one side of the room. Going over to it she sighed in slight annoyance, she found a gray jumpsuit that looked like something a janitor would wear, but she figured it was better than nothing. Grabbing the jumpsuit and the hat that went with it she put them on along with some shoes also kept inside of the closet. Grabbing a hair tie that was in Dr. G's coat pocket Bella tied her hair in a messy ponytail and turned back to the consol. She was glad to see it was done copying the archives to the memory stick and she quickly pocketed it. She then tried to figure out where Madison was.

Surprisingly it wasn't the computer that told her what she wanted. A few seconds of poking around the database looking for a camera system or something, a silver blur opened the door and shut it. Bella was instantly on her feet with her claws out but she soon relaxed when she noticed it was Madison, who was wearing nothing but some black spandex shorts and a matching sports bra. "Jesus of the hill, these people are whacked out of their minds on something horrible." Madison said with a sigh.

"You can say that again, where were you?" Bella asked with a sigh of her own.

"They had me in some sort of big test tube full of water. I had all those little sticky wire things on me that monitor your body functions and stuff. When I woke up they started to shock me and see how I would react. Luckily I'm not very conductive or else I probably would have had my brain fried by the time they were done. I managed to slip out of the tank when they went for lunch. What about you?" Madison asked curiously.

"I woke up on that table with this wench hovering over me. Careful Mad, I think she doesn't swing the same way as normal women do." Bella said and Madison moved around the unconscious Dr. G.

"Okay, so what are you wearing?" Madison said after dragging the unconscious woman across the room.

"I always wanted to be a janitor didn't I tell you?" Bella said sarcastically getting a snort from Madison.

"At least this whole experience hasn't dampened your humor." Madison said looking at the computer. "May I?"

"Knock yourself out; I'll watch creepy scientist lady so she won't sneak up on us." Bella said and Madison started to poke around on the computer. The blonde knew a little bit more about computers than Bella did and was more than likely the one that would find a safe exit for the two of them. "How did you get here anyway?"

"I stayed in puddle form and next to the very edge where the floor and wall meet. I stretched out like one hell of a long snake and started to check under doors to see if I couldn't find you. Since most people don't look down or in corners it was pretty safe." Madison said as she worked. "The security here isn't that great or at least not on this level. I think there's more security lurking around, probably on the upper levels."

"Well that's good to know, this way we won't expect much resistance on this level and probably a level or two up or down or wherever we have to go." Bella said getting a nod from Madison.

"Yea, and from what I can gather we're in some underground lab since I have yet to see a window. I know they may not have them but I think they would at least have a slit or two for ventilation. It's all air ducts and such here though." Madison said getting an idle nod from Bella whose sense weren't picking up much, just the activity of the people outside the room. The only clean air seemed to be coming from the ventilation system above them, and Bella could her from a rattling fan how long it was thanks to the echo that was produced. "Oh shit, that's not good."

"What did you do?" Bella snapped as she whipped her head around to look at the computer screen.

"Um, activated some sort of self destruct sequence for the base." Madison said in a small voice as she was pouting like a child.

"This building is set to self destruct in five minutes." A computer voice said and both girls looked at each other.

"Think we can make it out in that amount of time?" Bella asked and Madison shrugged.

"We are at least eight stories underground, even if we didn't run into any resistance it would be hard to accomplish it. Not to mention I think I might have deactivated the elevator system by accident." Madison said making Bella groan.

"Right things to remember once this whole thing is over with, we have to work on escape techniques and high tech computer programs since we obviously suck in both areas." Bella said getting a nod from Madison. "Do you at least know how this place is going to go up?"

"From what I can tell, mind you I'm not an expert; there is a store of missiles a few stories below us in a bunker type thing. I don't think any of it is nuclear but there's enough bang for one hell of an explosion." Madison said somewhat sheepishly making Bella sigh.

"Fine, let's move up some stories. The closer we are to the surface the less time it will take for us to dig ourselves out." Bella said as alarms started to sound around the base.

"Theoretically speaking of course." Madison said with a nod getting one from Bella. The two girls looked down at the still unconscious scientist lying on the ground. "Should we bring her?"

"She wanted to dissect me and probably rape me; I vote we leave her here. The less sadistic insane scientists in the world, the better a place it will be." Bella said and Madison gave her a funny look before nodding slowly.

"Okay, I'll go with you on this one. I'm not much a fan of the people doing experiments here either so I guess it will be okay." Madison said somewhat unsure.

"Are you worried that this will come back to guilt you?" Bella asked as some part of her already felt slightly guilty for her decision.

"A little but another part of me says if she survives and lives, she could report back to her superiors and we'll have one hell of a larger problem then just these fools." Madison said and Bella thought about it quickly.

"It's a chance we'll have to take. Let's get moving, like I said if we can cut back on our time getting out of the rubble there's less of a chance rescue crews will be the ones to find us." Bell said getting a nod from Madison. Both girls didn't feel like explaining to EMTs or firemen how they survived this whole ordeal with no injuries. Madison though hoped she could survive an explosion, she knew she wasn't conductive to electricity but she hadn't really tested now resistant to fire or pressure waves she was yet. The blonde figured now would be as good a time as any though.

So as the clock counted down Bella and Madison took to the stairwell. They were making good time and managed to get up five stories before Bella covered her ears and activated her armor out of instinct. Madison instantly turned into her liquid form and sent up a silent prayer. Barely half a second after the girls prepared a large shockwave ripped through the floor beneath them and not long after it a still strong fire ball. Bella felt slightly weightless as the floor was shattered right under her feet before the world seemed to literally come crashing down on her.

Several seconds after Bella was sure the world stopped falling, she assessed her situation. She was trapped on her stomach under a large beam that would have crushed a normal human. Luckily enough her armor was quite strong, and a nearby fallen wall gave Bella enough space between the floor and the beam to maneuver onto her back. Bella then went to work clawing her way out of the rubble, first to the point she could stand then she began the climb upward. She tried to keep preexisting tunnels that were caused during the collapse, she knew some of the workers at this place probably were nice, and she didn't want to cause even more damage by somehow making the unstable structure even more unstable. As she worked the brunette looked for signs of her friend, it wasn't until nearly a minute into her climb did she see the first signs that Madison was alright. Bella could see, thanks to her night vision, a small puddle of liquid was slowly gathering and following her through the rubble. She had no doubt that it was Madison slowly pulling herself together as she made it towards the surface.

It took seven long minutes for Bella to finally pull herself out of the rubble. She was covered in dust from concrete and was rather tired but otherwise unharmed. After two minutes of waiting Madison emerged fully and was able to reform into her normal shape. Although the blonde looked like she needed one hell of a nap. "Let's never do that again until we've had more training with our powers. I think I gave myself a headache." Madison muttered as the two caught their breath.

"Come on, let's get out of here. I can hear sirens approaching." Bella said getting a nod from Madison and the two quickly stumbled through the rubble and over a chain link barbwire topped fence. "Where the hell are we?"

"I think I recognize this place, yea, I think it's that army base near Port Angeles. You know the one that was robbed back in January." Madison said looking around at what was left of the military complex. Apparently they were being held under the main building but the resulting explosion sent off a chain reaction that almost decimated the whole place. "Forks would be that way." Madison said pointing to the forest on the other side of the base after she looked up to see where the sun was.

"Ugh, why does it have to be over there? Can't it be closer like a mile behind us?" Bella asked leaning against a tree.

"I know what you mean but we have to get going to make it back to the house." Madison said getting a sigh and nod from Bella. "I think that's another thing we'll have to work on, stamina."

"Why don't you make us a list of things we have to improve on when we get back and had a good night's rest?" Bella suggested as they began to make their way around the base and back to Forks. It was going to be a rather slow going process since both girls were tired and obviously still rattled from the explosion they had just been in.

It took the two of them four hours to make it back to Bella's house and by then it was nightfall. Bella's first response was got groan at the damage her poor house sustained when they had been captured. Several windows had been shot out and the knock out gas left a residue on the walls and on some of the furniture. Luckily her laptop had only minor damage but Bella was sure she would have to get a new one again since even the minor damage screwed with her program.

"Hey Bell, what's that in your pocket?" Madison said seeing the string coming out of Bella's borrowed clothes.

"I managed to copy some archives off that computer before you messed with it. It's got some information about mutants on it, particularly two mutants that have the codenames Wolverine and Sabertooth. I was going to look at it later since the crazy scientist Dr. G thought I was the granddaughter of Wolverine for some reason." Bella said getting a tired and thoughtful look from Madison.

"Maybe we can give it to Felix; he's really good with computer stuff. I have no doubt he could probably hack into the Pentagon if he was bored enough. If he could find a link between their files and actual hard documents we can see if she was right or not." Madison said getting an agreeing grunt form Bella. "In the meantime I think we should pack up and ship out?"

"What?" Bella asked looking at her friend curiously.

"You know, pack up everything here in the house that you want to keep and such, and fix the broken windows and stuff. Then after all that is done, head out of here. It should only take a few days, or you can have your mom to have her call in a repairman or something for the windows. But now those scientists know we live here and it's not exactly military proof." Madison said and Bella saw where her friend was going with this. As much as Bella didn't want to really consider it, she knew the two of them would be hunted by mutant researchers now. Looking around the living room they were crashed in Bella sighed.

"Fine, I'll call mom later after we get some rest and take showers. We can then pack up everything and get the hell out of here. I personally don't want to end up back on an examination table for anything other than a check up." Bella said getting a nod from Madison who sighed with relief.

"How did they know where we were?" Madison asked curiously.

"I think your parents sold them the information on where you were." Bella said with a frown. Her friend looked absolutely devastated at the news. "Hey, it's not your fault."

"I know, it's just I sort of wish I had better parents. I mean how despicable are they that they have to sell me out like that, and for what? Some reward money to fund their entertainment whims?" Madison said running a hand over her face.

"Well what's done is done, we can't change it but we can adapt to it right? Besides, you'll always be my sister and Conrad will always love you like you're his sister as well. You have family; it might not be the same as having loving parents but its still family." Bella said getting a nod and smile from the blonde.

"Yea, a bit dysfunctional but what family isn't? Well let's get some rest, I personally feel like shit right now and a long shower and nap will probably do wonders." Madison said standing up.

"I second that." Bella said with a sigh. "But I think I'll take my nap first rather than a shower. I don't have the energy right now to wash my hair." Bella said getting a tired laugh from her friend.

The next three days were a flurry of activity for the two young women. They worked on cleaning up all the walls, floors, and even the ceiling from the gas bomb. They also packed away everything they wanted to keep, washed and packed the clothes they were going to take with them, and got everything ready for their move out. Some of the furniture couldn't be salvaged and had to be burned but otherwise everything else important went into storage. At the end both girls had a duffle bag full of clothes and their bikes secured in the bed of Bella's truck.

"Are you sure about this Bell?" Madison asked as they parked outside of Sue's house.

"Yea, they're like family to me and I want them to know I'm leaving. I know I can't promise them anything, but that isn't the point." Bella said getting a nod from her friend.

"Well go on, I'll watch the truck." Madison said getting a smile from Bella before the brunette climbed out.

Bella made her way up the steps to the front door before she knocked. It was still slightly early in the morning; late enough that Leah and Seth wouldn't be home but early enough that Sue would be. Bella was happy to see the Quileute woman opening the door. "Bella! What a pleasant surprise? What brings you here? Would you like to come in?"

"Um, no, thanks for the offer though. I just came by to tell you that I'm take off. Madison and I have gone over a bunch of things in the past few days and have decided to go on a road trip. I didn't want to leave without telling you." Bella said getting a surprised look from Sue.

"Really?" She asked looking around Bella to the waving Madison in Bella's truck and the bikes in the truck bed. "I see, well that's a bit unexpected. Just wait here for a second." Sue said going back into the house. Bella in the mean time fixed her contacts that got slightly shifted from the tears welling up in her eyes. She didn't know why she was going to cry, but she had a feeling it was because how much she would miss Sue and all her wisdom. Bella amused herself with running her tongue along her dentures as she waited for Sue to come back. The older woman didn't take long and when she reappeared she had a box. "I was going to stop by to give you this, but I think I should give it to you now. These are a few things Harry wanted you to have and I added a few things that I want you to have as well. I can tell you probably won't be coming back anytime soon. Don't worry, if you ever end up back around here, you'll always have a place at my home. Tell Madison she's just as welcome here, stay out of trouble and have fun on your adventures. But if I find out you got amazingly drunk and ended pregnant or eloped in Las Vegas, I don't care where you are I'll hunt you down and beat you."

"Don't worry Aunt Sue; I don't think that will happen anytime soon. I'm not that irresponsible." Bella said with a smile and chuckle. "I'll send a postcard or something when I can."

"You do that." Sue said giving Bella a hug. "I'll see you again someday, whether it's here or with the Great Spirit, but we will meet again Isabella Swan."

"Thank you, for everything you've done for me. I won't ever forget you Aunt Sue." Bella said with a smile. "Well I better get going; I still have to make it to Billy's and then the gas station. Where I go after that, well Mad says we can just pick a spot on a map and head there."

"Good luck and watch out for each other." Sue said before giving a wave to Madison as Bella made it back to her truck with her prize.

"You sure you're going to be okay?" Mad asked as she waved back to Sue.

"Yea, but it's a bit hard to say goodbye for now to them. They were there for me at the best and worst of times in the past few months." Bella said getting a nod from Madison.

"Well let's go say goodbye to Billy, I'm sure Sue will have called him by the time we get there." Madison said with a grin making Bella smile and the two were off. Sure enough when they pulled up to Billy's he was waiting for them.

"I heard you two are going on a road trip." Billy said getting a nod from Bella. "Charlie told me once you might do that, said you both had adventuring spirits. But I want you to promise me you'll look out for each other on your trip. I don't want to hear you two ended up dead on the side of the road or anything."

"Don't worry Uncle Billy; we got each other's back. Just you take care, we may stop by again someday and I want to hear all the new embarrassing stories you have of Jacob and his awkward teenage years." Bella said hugging Billy who chuckled as he hugged her back.

"I wouldn't worry about that, just if you're ever in the Great Lake region send me a post card and tell me how the fishing is there." Billy said getting a grin and nod from Bella.

"We'll even send you a postcard from New England if we get that far and tell you how the fishing in the Atlantic is." Bella said getting a smile form Billy.

"I'd love to hear about that, just don't toss each other into freezing waters." Billy said as he shook Madison's hand.

"I promise we'll do everything as safely as possible." Both girls chorused before sharing a look and giggling at each other.

"You do that, now get going. I don't want you two changing your minds on this road trip because you've spent too much time dawdling here. I can't wait to see the postcard you two send me." Billy said and after a few more heartfelt goodbyes the two girls made it back to the truck. They pulled away to Billy waving goodbye to them before they were once more on the road.

"I'm going to miss him." Madison said with a sigh. She wasn't as close to Sue as she was to Billy and she knew she would miss the old Native man.

"Yea, but it's not like we can't swing by here in a few years. By then the scientists will think we're on the run and not suspect us going back to the very place we began." Bella said getting a smile from Madison.

"That's going to be fun." Madison said with a grin. "Alright! No more depression, let's go rock this world!" Madison said pointing at the windshield with a grin making Bella laugh. Flipping on the radio both girls smiled as they heard Born to be Wild by Steppenwolf blare out of the speakers. They were ready to go on their great adventure, and hopefully out run the organization HYDRA that was after them now.

As the two mutants took to the road, Bella's mother called a repairman to fix up the house that was now fully in her name so she could start renting it out. Also rescue workers still working at the sight of the exploding base had managed to dig down and find an injured red haired scientist that had some pieces of metal in one of her eyes. As they loaded the injured woman into the ambulance she swore she would capture the two mutants responsible for the incident. Furthermore in Seattle, Felix had sat down and started to go through the archives Bella had pulled from the computer. He was surprised how many mutants the organization HYDRA already knew about and decided it was best to look into the organization more. He was also amused to see that Bella was listed under the codename Coyote while Madison's codename was Silverpool, he couldn't wait to tell them that. He especially was anticipating Bella's reaction. However, in Italy in an underground compound news was spreading quickly about the Cullens and how they possibly let a human know about vampires without turning or killing her. It was safe to say a storm was brewing among the vampire race and it was going to explode soon. Not to mention in Alaska, a certain pixie like vampire was hit with a myriad of visions all centering around Bella Swan. Alice didn't know what to think but she knew one thing for certain, the Cullens had to find Bella before the Volturi did.

* * *

YAY!! We've hit the end my friends! Bell and Mad are off on a grand adventure but we will see them again. I still don't know what I'll name the sequel but it will be found on my profile page where all authors can find thier stories. We also got to see mentions of Wolverine and Sabertooth! Tell me honestly who here forgot about Bella's family history? Also who here didn't pick up on the Howlett reference I left in one of the very first chapters? Yea I'm a bit of a geek so I probably know a bit more about the fictional history of the Xmen, if not you can always look it up. I'm trying to draw on all I know about the Xmen from the comic books, movies, and cartoons and still make it not clash too much. However I still think Xmen: Evo is the most represenative of the setting this fic will be in. The time line will be slightly off but I don't think it will be horribly off. I'm not promising anything but I believe the Xmen will be making an appearance in the sequel and not just be mentioned. Anyway even though you've reached the end of this fic you can tell me your thoughts about it in a simple:

REVIEW!!


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